A fox is Semper Fidelis
by AreYouFrikkenSerious
Summary: The Year is 20XX. After a strange portal appeared in Japan, Lt. Uzumaki Naruko was sent over to the other side to help safeguard her Home. But what she found instead was what she didn't expect... Weapons and CQC Naruko; Up for adoption.
1. Prolog - Chapter 3

**Greetings all to my third Fanfiction, 'A Fox is Semper Fidelis'. I have a few requests for you dear readers for this fic:**

 **1\. Please leave constructive reviews.**

 **2\. If you want your review to remain anonymous, feel free to PM me.**

 **3\. If you are a Guest reader and want to leave a review/message, make yourself a profile. It is free and having it doesn't mean you need to write Fanfictions.**

 **4\. Unlike the previous two Fanfictions, I will accept negative reviews, though be prepared for negative responses.**

 **FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE TITLE**

 **The first part, Fox, is to make the clear connection to Naruto or in this case Naruko. However there will be no chakra or Kyubi in this story.**

 **As for the second part…Semper Fidelis translated from Latin to 'always loyal' or 'always faithful'.**

 **Now, like both her anime counterpart and the various fox species, Naruko is Semper Fidelis.**

 **THANKS FOR READING THIS SECTION…IF YOU TOOK THE TIME TO READ IT…**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Gate: Thus the JSDF fought there.**

 **There are thousands of Fanfictions on this website that give you the guide on Speaking and thinking…so I won't bother with it…to troublesome.**

 **Also, I will try a different approach concerning Authors Notes. I will add the notes at the end of every chapter in this story.**

 **Anyway…enough chatter…time for the story…**

 **OH…before I forget…this fanfiction is based on the Anime of Gate: Thus the JSDF fought there, not the manga, and will thus only contain two seasons…unless a third gets released while I am writing…**

 **Prolog**

20XX, Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean

A small Battle was being fought on the Island of Aguigan, an uninhabited Island in the southern section of the Mariana Islands, a string of Islands formed due to volcanic activity.

On one side were the some 30 men and women of the JSDF's Ranger branch.

Attacking their position was a full Battalion of US Marines, outnumbering the defenders by over 10 to 1.

However, although they were outnumbered, the defenders had a advantage over the attackers…and that was Firepower. They had 4 M2HB Browning Heavy Machine Guns with plenty of ammo. They also had two mortars and a few Grenade Launchers. The rest were armed with assault rifles or semi automatic rifles. Surrounding their fort was a minefield.

The attackers were armed with M16A4 assault rifles or M4 Carbines, M39 EMS's and the occasional M249 SAW.

The defenders also had the terrain advantage: their fort was situated on top of a Hill and the surrounding area was bare of any Flora and Boulders, meaning there was no place for the attackers to hide. That didn't mean that they had it easy…

Using wood they had cut down from the forests, the US Marines had built makeshift shields behind which they advanced…that being said, the shields only protected them from the front…

Located about half a kilometer away in a cleverly concealed eagles nest lay the 31st member of the defending force (She wasn't included in the 30 defending the fort because SHE IS NOT IN THE FORT), holding a Barrette 50 .cal Sniper rifle, better known by the American forces as the M102 Heavy Sniper Rifle.

To her side lay a modified FN SCAR as well as 10 ammo clips for her Sniper rifle and 4 large drum mags for the assault rifle.

The FN was equipped with a long barrel, a hybrid ACOG-Red dot sight (Like those seen in the Game Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, the mission here you need to save the Russian President's daughter), Drum mag adaptation, burst mode capability and lastly, an FN40GL grenade launcher, with an additional 10 grenades strapped to her belt.

Currently she was busy searching for the Officers amongst the Marines and was picking them off almost immediately upon finding them. However her rate of fire wasn't that great as she a) didn't want to give away her position and b) it took a while to find the Officers as they were dressed the same as the Marines…smart bastards…

The Battle was the last in a series of mock engagements between the US Military and the JSDF in the hoped of creating a system of Joint Military training between Nations. And so far it has been an overwhelming success…unlike when the US tried doing the same with Russia…at least then they were using the same weaponry as they were using in this battle: Airsoft guns.

Noticing that their Officers were getting picked off one by one, the marines decided to change tactics: instead of advancing behind shields, they would first get that damned sniper, and then improvise. That Plan was based on the theory that Snipers were horrible at close range Combat…but 2nd Lieutenant Uzumaki Naruko was anything but a normal everyday sniper. True, she was only ranked in the 15 top snipers in the world, however that only applies to snipers…in truth she a close quarter combat specialist with good compatibility to the Assault Rifle…in short she was an all rounder in terms of hand-held weaponry…but the Marines of this battalion didn't know that.

When the marines launched the first stage of their new operation, they were completely caught off guard by the furious fire the supposed Sniper gave them. Out of the 20 marines that went after her, 5 were taken down in that first engagement.

"Fuck…our intel didn't mention that there were others in this area." One of the marines shouted…just as the fire stopped. Suddenly a hand grenade fell at his feet with a piece of paper attached to it. The marine barely got to see the words 'Alpha Mike Foxtrot' written on it before the timer went off. **(1)**

Three other marines were caught in the explosion , leaving only 12 marines left…scratch that, make it 11…one was shot when he tried advancing. Suddenly their radios crackled.

 _"You know staying in one place is not very clever, boys…"_ a female voice spoke before 4 marines who were hiding behind a rock were taken out by an explosion, curtsy of a well aimed high-angle grenade launched from Naruko's grenade launcher.

 _"If you surrender, you won't need to get shoot down by by small BB's…"_ the female spoke over the radio in a semi-seductive tone. Before she could get an answer though, a loud horn echoed across the island, signaling the end of the battle as a US victory.

She sighed as she packed up her gear and came out of hiding.

All over the Island those marines and JSDF rangers who were 'killed' got up off the ground and brushed the small Airsoft BB's of their clothing.

Back with Naruko, she walked through the undergrowth to meet up with the group of Marines.

Marines POV

Out of the undergrowth emerge a relatively tall woman whose long deep red hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. Her clothing was forest camouflage and she had a large rucksack on her back (Filled with all her gear). What surprised them even more was the fact that she was carrying a M102 Sniper Rifle and had a heavily modified FN SCAR-L hanging on her side. The Rifle was Black in color while the SCAR was colored in Jungle camo.

Some of them got perverted thoughts when they looked at her…specifically her waist and chest area, the latter where the fact that she didn't wear body-armor made it rather obvious that she had a decent bust.

General POV

The one who got caught by the hand grenade came up to her.

"Alpha Mike Foxtrot…really?" he deadpanned.

"Would you rather I have used this one?" she asked, holding up another hand grenade with a piece of paper on that one as well. On it was writing 'Yippee Kay Yay, Mother Fucker'. "Or this one?" she held up another with 'Hasta La Vista, Baby' written on it. **(2)**

The Marines couldn't decide whether to laugh because of her using well known phrases or growl due to the fact that she used AMERICAN Phrases.

They instead chose option three: looking her up and down, becoming entranced by her deep violet eyes and perfect features.

"Man, that is a nice pair of Tits she had got there." One of the marines said whilst several others whistled in agreement.

"If you want, you can get a feel of them…" the female said, making the ones who whistled smirk and raise their hands. "…however in order to do that, you would have to have taken me down during the battle." Their smirks and hands fell faster than gravity should have been able to pull them down.

"Well, that would be near impossible for these freshmen to do, Kid." A new voice spoke up. Everyone turned to see a pair of men approaching them, one of whom was wearing the formal attire of a JSDF General.

"General Yamamoto." The marines called out, standing at attention with salutes.

"Ahh, Old Man." The female said, smile forming on her face. The marines stared at her incredulously at her informal greeting of the General

Yes, this was the man who was commonly referred to his code name by. General 'Yamamoto' was the highest ranking officer amongst the Japanese participants of the joint training exercises. Next to him walked his American counterpart, General 'MacArthur'. They both decided to use names of famous generals/admirals from the Pacific Theaters of WW2 since the joint training exercises was being held on numerous islands that were in said theater.

"So this is the lass you were telling me about…the one who had just finished her S training…" McArthur said. Yamamoto nodded.

"Yes. This is 2nd Lieutenant Uzumaki Naruko, code named Maelstrom." Yamamoto said. The Marines turned to Naruko with surprise and shock.

"I see…is she still causing trouble?" McArthur asked. Naruko smirked.

"Are you referring to the offer I made to these boys or what happened the last time I was in the States?" she asked. Loud growls answered her question.

"Option B." McArthur said, remembering the whiskers she had drawn onto the Statue of Liberty's face during the dead of night…or the time she drew Target Circles onto the White house without anyone noticing…but the best prank she pulled (in McArthurs mind) was when she managed to lock the doors of the Pentagon and added signs saying it was closed due to maintenance. The reason McArthur enjoyed that one was because it meant he had a few days to spend at home with his wife and children.

"I still owe you one for that prank at the Pentagon." He said out loud.

"You don't owe me anything, General. You helped me get my Barrette and my Custom SCAR. Though nobody seems to have noticed my 4th prank." Naruko said.

"There was a fourth?" McArthur asked.

Yamamoto laughed. "I actually helped with that one…as did several others." He calmed down a bit. "Do you remember the campaigning posters for that Communist party? The ones that popped up during that time?" he got several nods, followed shortly by faces that showed their realization.

"And for that one, I forgive you for the Statue of Liberty." One of the marines told Naruko, who nodded in thanks. The posters showed pictures of the WW2 German Concentration Camps (At least the ones where people were being forced to work for the Nazi SS) with American civilians marching in by the thousands. Written on the posters were the words: 'Vote for Communism! That way we will all land in the Shit…together!'

"As for your question, General, the answer is no. After she returned to Japan, she was ordered to always carry a GPS tag with her. We have an entire room full of gear just to keep tabs on her whenever she is not on active duty." Yamato said.

"At first I resisted, but finally relented after I got them to agree to let me have a shot at pranking the Russians." Naruko sighed.

"Wait, what happened to the Kremlin was you?" McArthur asked, though every other US personal there had the same question.

"Yeah. The timing was perfect as those Russians there were having a party and were so drunk they were basically FUBAR. And the guards were perverts…I just had to bend down to show them my cleavage and they'd fall over from nose bleed…" Naruko said. She had gone and placed Christmas decorations onto the Kremlin…even spraying fake snow everywhere…during Easter…

"Now before we begin to talk about what else she had done, let's get back to base and enjoy the last day together." Yamamoto said. The others agreed to that.

That evening

"I would like to welcome you all to this last formal assembly of the Joint Training exercise." Yamamoto said into the mic. The assembled soldiers instantly went quiet. "Before we begin, General McArthur and I have decided to award prices to those of you who stood out from the rest, men and women whose actions changed the battles and those who held their own against difficult odds." Yamamoto stepped back and let McArthur to the mic.

"For taking over whenever the platoon leader was confirmed KIA, I'd like the following members to come to the front." McArthur called out a series of names, each of whom was promoted to Platoon second in command.

Then Yamamoto stepped forward. "For coming up with plans on the run, I'd like Sergeant J. B. Smith to come to the front." The man walked up to the platform. "Now, unfortunately there is no promotion or flag we can give you, but we chose to give you this instead." Yamamoto held out a tool kit. Everyone in the assembly laughed at that.

McArthur then came forward again. "For our last award we have only one person. She is probably the only one who wasn't shot during the ENTIRE exercise, even though she prefers soloing her operations. She actually get 3 prizes, one for the aforementioned reason, one for having the highest number of confirmed officer kills and lastly the prize of waging a solo guerilla warfare in almost all of the multiday battles, successfully preventing supplies from reaching the front lines as well as generally living up to her unofficial title, please give a warm applause for the Queen of Pranks, the Red Ghost Sniper, 2nd Lieutenant Uzumaki Naruko." Applause and whistling was heard as Naruko marched up to the platform. After getting her rewards, Naruko turned to the microphone.

"As this is the last chance I have of living up to my first nickname, I have decided to tell you in advance. I may have accidentally dropped a can Magnesium Oxide into the Steak seasoning…" Most of the US Marines and some of the JSDF Rangers turned pale. Magnesium Oxide was a pretty effective laxative. Already some of them were feeling their stomachs gurgle. "…and since the assembly is only halfway through its program…well, I don't blame me because I did give you a warning." Naruko finished. "Actually that speech itself was the prank. I never did anything to the food or the seasoning." She told McArthur and Yamamoto, both of whom had to restrain themselves from laughing.

Immediately after the assembly ended

"Now to finish off, those of you who had steak for Supper…do you still need to go?" Yamamoto asked.

Nobody answered as realization crossed their faces.

"That is right. Miss Uzumaki was messing with your minds."

It started out as a chuckle, taking up by others and finally ending in full laughter as men and women laughed at the prank.

"However, if she had done what she did, she would have been in the same boat as you. I saw her eat steak as well you know…"

"Hey, it is not like when I swapped the Salt and the Sugar tags in the mess and storage." Naruko called out. Many groaned remembering the very first prank she pulled off during the exercise.

"That is true."

"What about the time I mixed up everyone's bag labels?" More groans met her words. The Female Marines were out for blood for the rest of the week.

"Now, I believe it is time to PARTY…" one of the US Marines shouted out. Roars of approval answered his shout. The party lasted the entire night, but Naruko was nowhere to be seen.

The next day

"Naruko, your request to take the next week off has been approved." Yamamoto said, handing Naruko several papers.

"Thank you, Old Man." She answered. Several of the other officers had twitching eyes at the 'old man' jab, but Yamamoto just chuckled at the nickname. Also, everybody knew that he was the closest thing Naruko had to Family and she had unofficially adopted him as her grandfather.

Looking at the pagers, Naruko frowned.

"Sir, according to this…"

 **(1): Alpha Mike Foxtrot…for those of you who haven't seen the 2010 A-Team movie, it means 'Adios Mother Fucker…**

 **(2): Need I explain where those come from?**

 **Chapter 1**

Two days later, Ginza District

"Of all places, you just had to stay in Ginza." Kuribayashi, Naruko's best friend and fellow Military Close Quarter Combat specialist, grumbled.

"I guess it cannot be helped. My house is in this district and currently the other areas are having major construction or renovations going on. High Command didn't want to risk me pulling any pranks in those areas…especially the ones they live in." Naruko told her. Still, she knew where Kuribayashi was coming from…she lived on the other side of Tokyo and was grumpy due to the 1 hour subway ride she just came from.

"Yeah, I guess that is true…" Kuribayashi said.

The two of them had a very close friendship, forged from both rivalry as well as normal friendship, though it seemed as though it was more than that. The rivalry came in when they sparred, actually that is how they got to know each other…

When not feeding their rivalry, they acted like normal friends, buying each other lunch or taking walks in the parks…and the rare visit to the clothing and fashion stores.

"Well, I am starving." Naruko said. "Let's go find something to eat."

"As long as you are not the one cooking, I am game." Kuribayashi said. Naruko gave her a pout. The last time she tried to cook she nearly burnt the entire kitchen down…

Actually, cooking wasn't the only area Naruko was useless in. Shopping, for instance. The first time Kuribayashi took Naruko shopping she nearly face planted when Naruko bought the absolute minimum in terms of clothing, then going as far as choosing food that few people would want…mostly because she sees that she goes for the cheapest stuff (Which would be a bonus), however she always seemed to be drawn to the worst tasting foods, such as corned beef/chicken. Once she even tried buying Dog food…

Another area where Naruko was hopeless was fashion and decency. Shortly after becoming friends Naruko invited Kuribayashi over to her place and saying that the brunette was shocked by the lack of furniture in her home as well as the completely worn out appearance of her clothes, would be an understatement. Of course she had immediately taken Naruko to the nearest Clothing store…where she barely stopped Naruko from walking out of the changing room, whilst being completely naked, in order to grab the next few items of clothing.

She later discovered the reason behind all this. Naruko is an orphan who practically grew up on the Streets and Slums of Tokyo, wearing rags for the most part and more often than not going commando. She grew up with few things to call her own and what few clothes she did own she only replaced when they became completely un-wearable, as in they literally fell apart.

The reason she was able to actually able to enjoy the Militaries MREs was because to her those meals tasted better than what she got on the street.

Kuribayashi had vowed then to take Naruko shopping whenever they were on leave to make sure that she at least had a decent lifestyle.

"I was actually thinking more along the lines of Pizza." Naruko said. Kuribayashi agreed to that idea and soon they were sitting at a roadside Pizzeria.

"I heard that you constantly pranked the Yanks on the joint training exercise." Kuribayashi said.

"Not only them, but everyone…except for the Old Man and the American General." Naruko said with a smile. Kuribayashi sighed, having expected that.

"So, did anything interesting happen? Did anyone try to hit on you?" she asked.

"Yeah, a group of drunk marines tried to have their way with me." Naruko muttered. Kuribayashi looked at her…with pity for the marines.

"How long did it take for them to land in the medical tents?"

"Before they started groping my ass and tits it would have taken about 2 minutes…" Naruko growled. Kuribayashi flinched in sympathy. Groping Naruko in those areas without her permission was a one way ticket to the hospital…she had seen it happen countless times before. It is questionable whether some of those men (and women) would ever recover from the trauma.

"After they groped, I'd say about 15 seconds before it was safe to enter my arm range."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their pizzas, the delicious smell making their stomachs rumble.

They were about to offer their thanks when they heard the screaming. Looking around, they then saw people running. They also heard the words 'monsters' and 'slaughter' amongst the screaming. Then they heard gunfire.

"Kuribayashi. Help get these people to safety. I will head over and see what is going on." Naruko said, instantly turning serious.

"Right." Kuribayashi said, recognizing the seriousness of the situation. Normally Naruko calls her Yashi-chan or Shi-chan, but when she gets serious…well, the habits of the Military seem to have rubbed off on her.

The brunette began steering people towards the imperial palace, where they would be able to find refuge, even going as far as nearly beating up the gate guards when they refused to open the gates for the civilians, shouting at the man, asking him what was more important, the lives of the civilians or their job.

Naruko meanwhile was fighting her way over to a group of policemen who were trying to figure out the situation.

"Lady, you need to go get out of here…" one of the policemen said to her.

"2nd Lieutenant Uzumaki Naruko of the JSDF. I am taking over temporary command until the military arrives." Naruko said. "What is the situation?"

The policemen looked at her in doubt, but a quick phone call made by Naruko to the Old Man, who turned out to be Minister Tanō, confirmed her words.

"Currently an army of hostiles is invading the city from a gate that appeared from out of nowhere. The latest reports indicate that they are reforming to begin gaining more ground with their next attack." The Police sergeant told her.

Naruko went to the Radio. "All Units, this is 2nd lieutenant Uzumaki of the JSDF, call sign Maelstrom. Set up a three block perimeter around the hostiles point of origin and Barricade the roads with everything you can get. Cars, dumpsters, bricks…I don't care what, just make sure to hold out until the JSDF arrives." Naruko looked at her phone when she saw the message the Old Man sent her. "The Helicopters will arrive in 15 minutes. Repeat, the Helicopters will arrive in 15 minutes." Naruko gave the radio back to the sergeant. "Please hold out for a few minutes. I am quickly going to my house and getting my gear. It will take 5 minutes tops."

With that Naruko ran off towards her home. Luckily she was already in the correct street, so it took only 1 1/2 minutes to get there. Once inside, she immediately went to the weapon safe she kept and got out her Kevlar body armor and her SCAR. She took three drum mags with, plus the one she loaded into the gun. Next she grabbed her helmet and patched into the Police frequencies. From that she learned that the hostiles had begun their advance down the main boulevard towards the City Centre. Quickly returned to the policemen from earlier, finding them waiting behind their cars that had been moved to block the road forming a make shift barricade.

 _"What the… the Hostiles are splitting up. Some groups are heading down the side streets!"_ came the shout over the Radio.

"This is Maelstrom. Prepare to shoot to kill. It is unknown whether or not the enemy will show mercy." Naruko said into her mic. She told the policemen in her street that she would go to the main boulevard and help there.

"Go, Lt. we will hold the line here at any cost." The sergeant told her.

Naruko arrived just in time to see the policemen opening fire on the advancing enemies.

The gunfire lessened when the policemen had to duck behind cover to avoid a hail or arrows.

"Maelstrom?" a policemen called out when he saw her.

She nodded. During a break in the rain of arrows, she ran over to the policeman, taking head shots as she went…her skills as a sniper were paying off…

"Those archers are keeping us pinned down here. We cannot form a decent defense." The man said.

"Any idea what the distance is to the archers?" Naruko asked.

"Approximately 50 meters, but we cannot shoot them as there is a wall of flesh and metal between us and them." A female officer called over, having heard the question.

Naruko nodded and loaded a grenade into her grenade launcher. The policeman's eyes widened seeing her doing that.

A few seconds later there was an explosion amongst the enemy lines as Naruko's grenade landed amongst them, dealing massive damage as well as confusion.

"Open fire!" Naruko shouted as she began popping of head shots at the advancing enemy. When her mag ran empty, she took a glance at her watch and saw that they still had 3 minutes until the choppers arrived. Quickly reloading, she returned her attention on the enemy, only to swear as another group of archers readied themselves to fire.

"FLASH-BANG OUT!" she shouted, throwing a flash-bang. The grenade landed at the feet of the archers, who wondered what the small metal cylinder was. They were then stunned by the intense light flash and the loud bang that followed. The policemen and Naruto however had taken cover and began opening fire again after the bang.

 _"To all Police defenders, we are one minute out. If possible, mark your locations with flares so we know where you are."_ Came the call over the radio.

"Maelstrom here. What is the ETA on the ground Cavalry?" Naruko asked.

 _"The first elements will arrive with us via Helicopter transport. The mobiles will arrive in 30 mikes due to traffic and people running in the other direction. The Black Hawks will make regular trips back and forth though."_ Naruko swore.

"Be advised. The enemy has Air units. I repeat, the enemy has air units. My NATO rounds are doing bugger all to them." Naruko spoke into the mic.

 _"Roger that. Cobra 1-1, moving moving to intercept Air Units."_

 _"Roger that, Apache 2-5 moving in to perform strafing run."_

Soon the roar of the Helicopters engines could be heard over the sound of the constant firing…and the occasional explosion.

Moments later the enemies were either torn apart by the 30mm chain gun the Apache used or blasted to bits by the rockets mounted on its wings.

 _"Maelstrom, this is Black Hawk squadron 3. We are incoming with a full payload of JSDF Soldiers."_ Came the call over the radio.

"Affirmative." Naruko radioed back, then turned to the policemen. "Once the Soldiers arrive, I want all of you to go and assist in the evacuation. No offence, but you lack the firepower and training to properly hold this position."

"No Shit. We are running out of ammo anyway." The Policeman said, before radioing in to all locations to hand over the defense to the JSDF when they arrive.

It was then that Kuribayashi came running, only to be stopped by another policeman.

"Sergeant 1st Class, Kuribayashi Shino. Get out of my way." She said the first part formally…and growled the rest.

 _'How can someone that short be that scary?'_ thought the policeman.

"Ruko-chan, where is your Rifle?" Shino **(1)** asked.

"Back home. I needed to move quickly, which is difficult to do with her." Naruko answered, sending of a few more shots.

"Shall I go in for CQ…" Shino began, but another series of explosions from the Apache's strafing run quickly convinced her not to. "Nevermind…"

Fortunately the Black Hawks arrived at that time and Shino quickly ran over to one and got some (oversized) equipment and a rifle and mags. The soldiers tried not to laugh at the sight of her in a Kevlar Vest that was way too large for her.

She grumbled and wished she had her custom made Kevlar jacket with her.

"When I have enough Money, I am so buying myself a house near yours…" she muttered, trying to make the oversized Kevlar jacket fit better.

"Or you could stay with me." Naruko commented, not really thinking about what she was saying, focusing more on keeping the enemy from advancing.

A minute after the JSDF took over the defenses, the policemen at the Barricade on Naruko's street radioed in, calling for immediate assistance.

"Lt. go. We will hold this line. 3rd squad, go with her." The onsite Officer Cadet radioed.

Naruko nodded her appreciation in thanks and headed over to her street, where she made it just in time to see the defenders being overrun.

"Form Firing line." She said. "Advance and Fire."

The Battle would continue on for a while…the invaders fought for every foot of tarmac and concrete they had occupied. Naruko and the soldiers with her (incl. Shino) even had to go in for a Melee sometimes, especially when clearing the buildings that had been broken into.

After the JSDF mobile units arrived

Naruko and Shino walked into her house after having given over command to a superior officer who all but ordered them to take the rest of the day off.

"Why did that pizzeria have to be destroyed…I am starving…" Naruko groaned out.

"True that." Shino agreed as she followed Naruko up to her bedroom, where she was in for a surprise.

"Are those…" she began.

"Yeah."

"Do they…"

"Yeah…"

"Can I…"

"See you can find something in the kitchen for us to eat first…I don't want you to try and eat my guns and knives." Naruko said, pointing to the numerous gun-safes and display casings.

"Oh…right…" Shino said, heading towards the kitchen.

To absolutely no surprise from her she found most of the cupboards filled to the top with Cups of Instant Ramen. The two cupboards that weren't filled with that held plates, knives, forks, spoons (both tea and normal) and bowls, two of each. There was also an electric kettle, which Shino took out and began setting water on to boil. She also took out three cups of Instant Ramen, fully knowing how much her friend can eat.

4 minutes later

"I still hate the time it takes to cook this stuff." Naruko muttered between mouthfuls of Ramen.

"Patience is a virtue…oh right…you should know that as you are a sniper…" Shino teased.

"If you are planning on heading home today, don't bother. The entire area is on lockdown until tomorrow." Naruko told her, making Shino sigh.

"This just can't get any worse, can it?" she asked.

Several days later

 _"In the face of this recent disaster, these two women set aside their off-duty days and actively participated both the defense as well as the evacuation and rescue efforts, risking their lives to save countless citizens."_ The announcement was broadcast across the entire nation. _"After listening to many of the survivors as well as those of the police force who held off the initial attacks, both of these women were heralded as heroes."_

The announcer then paused while an Aide handed him a certificate.

 _"Kuribayashi Shino, Sergeant first Class, step forward."_

 _"Sir."_ Shino said, saluting.

 _"You risked not only your military career, but also imprisonment in order to force the guards at the Imperial Palace to open the gates and use the Imperial Palace grounds as a refuge. Afterwards you went and actively participated in some of the fiercest fights right on the front lines. For these deeds, it has been decided that you are to be promoted to Sergeant Major."_ Loud applause greeted those words, both in the auditorium and on the other side of the TV, Radio, Public announcement devices etc.

 _"Uzumaki Naruko, 2nd Lieutenant, step forward."_

 _"Hai."_ Naruko said.

 _"You took the initiative and rallied the defending forces at a time when they were unsure about what they would do. It is thanks to your actions that enough time was bought for the JSDF to arrive. For your acts of Leadership and Combat Operations, you are hereby promoted to 1st Lieutenant."_ The applause was deafening inside the auditorium.

In the Radio stations, the commentators could have sworm they heard the cheering from the civilians coming from their microphones…

The next day

Both Naruko and Shino decided to return to active duty that day. Right now they were running around the training field, trying to ignore the murmurs and the gossip from the male and female JSDF personal, who were also doing their morning training, respectively.

One female even tried opening a conversation with them…on the worst of subject for the two.

"The Guys must be after you like a cat after a mouse…So how does it feel to be famous?" she asked. "Have you been enjoying the company of the paparazzi?"

Many thought went through both Naruko and Shino's minds, all of them could be shortened to 5 words:

"I'm going to kill her!"

Three months later

Over the past three months Naruko and Shino trained hard as they had been chosen amongst to be amongst the Vanguard of the Force that would go and secure the other side of the Gate, as the portal was referred to. During this time Naruko also studied the language that used on the other side.

To Naruko's surprise, Shino decided to move in with her, saying that her Landlord was being an ass. She understood the second reasoning when Shino told her she had heard Naruko's words during the battle.

Now though they and the rest of the vanguard were assembled before the Gate, which had been covered in a dome of Steel and Concrete to prevent any more invasions.

After a lengthy speech for the press about what these brave men and women would be doing on the other side, during which Naruko almost fell asleep, they finally began their advance. Naruko managed to get a lift on top of one of the 6 Type 10 Main Battle Tanks that would be accompanying them into the new world, more specifically she laid down on its turret, Sniper Rifle at the ready. Next to her the Tanks Top mounted Machine gun operator shook his head, but couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"It may be a bumpy ride, Miss." He told her.

"Can't be more bumpy than the heads of the paparazzi after I beat the shit out of them." Naruko told him, smirking.

"Banzai to that." The man said. "Let's hope we don't have to flatten any mountains on the other side."

"I wouldn't know. Mine are fine being flattened." Naruko said, shrugging. They both laughed at that.

They then entered the dark tunnel of the portal.

"Switching to Night Vision Scope." Naruko said, changing the configuration of her sniper scope.

After a while the machine gunner put his hand to his ear, then turned to Naruko.

"We are about to come out at the other side."

"Roger that." Naruko told him.

The tank hadn't even exited the tunnel completely before she saw what was on the other side.

"Enemies spotted, 5 clicks, bearing 3-1-0. Air Units confirmed as well." She said into her mic.

 _"You heard her, men. Once we get to the other side you are to immediately take up Defensive positions. Get the Quad AA's emplaced first, then dig trenches. Engineers, see if you can get a sonar rader system up and running."_ The CO commanded over the Radio. _"Tank crews, see if you can hull down anywhere."_

 _"Roger that."_ Came the collective reply.

 _"Maelstrom, you are to go and find yourself an eagle's nest. Do what you do best, but also call out any new movements if you see them."_

"Roger that."

10 Minutes later the Forward Units of the JSDF was ready and waiting for the approaching enemy.

 **(1): going to refer to Kuribayashi as Shino from now on…**

 **Chapter 2**

Imperial Capital, Senate Building

"It was an embarrassment, your Majesty." A member of the Imperial Senate said. "We have lost approximately 60% of the empires military might. What would you have us do? How will you guide the state?" All the other senators as well as the few Generals there began muttering amongst themselves at those words.

"Marquess Casel, think about how the people must feel." The emperor said, addressing the man, now identified as Marquess. "It is true that our latest losses have cost us our military advantage. They worry that the Vassal states and others may revolt and attack the Imperial Capital itself." The emperor paused for a moment. "This Empire is now under threat from a new force. I will not be held responsible for any loss of life amongst the military." There were gasps of shock at his words.

An elderly senator stepped forward.

"The army you sent out was defeated in less than two days. Alnus Hill is now completely under the control of the invading forces that are, as we speak, constructing a base around the Gate. Of course my own army tried to retake the hill, but we were defeated before we even got within range for our bows and arrows. I have never seen such sorcery before. They lit up the night sky as though it was daylight"

"We must fight them. If we gather enough troops and combine them with our remaining armies, we will have an unstoppable force. But I say we don't just end up re-capturing the hill…I say we then go on the offensive once more and attack the other side." This from one of the Generals.

The Senate erupted between those who agreed with the emperor and the general and those who wished to stop the war before it got to their front door.

The senate quieted down when Emperor Molt raised his hand.

"I will not sit here idly while the invaders pose a threat to my people. Therefore, we must fight. Send delegates to our tributaries and neighboring states. Ask them for help in defending the continent from these invaders. We will lead the charge on recapturing Alnus Hill."

Those supporting the War began chanting 'Glory to the Empire'.

"Your Majesty…" Marquess spoke up again. "It will be a Bloodbath."

The Emperor smirked at that.

Several Days Later, approaching Alnus Hill

A Rider was on a hill, overlooking the army that was passing beneath him.

"King Duran. We have spotted what appear to be enemy scouts two hills ahead." Another rider reported.

"Leave them be. We must hurry to meet the other Kings for the assault on Alnus." Duran said, riding down to the front of his army. From there he could already see the Camp they were heading towards.

That evening, commanders tent

"The Imperial Army's Commander is not coming?" Duran asked the Imperial soldier who was sent to deliver a message.

"Our Imperial Army is still recovering from the last Battle we had with these invaders. Most have gone to protect our towns and Cities whilst the rest have gone to help recruit new soldiers." The soldier told them. "In total we are down to roughly 40% of our Military strength after we. I am part of the division that has remained behind to keep an eye on Alnus."

"Defeated you say?" several of the assembled Kings muttered.

"What about your commander?" Duran asked.

"He was one of the first to fall in the most recent battle." The Soldier said.

"And where were you during that Battle?" one of the kings asked.

"Sire, I was stationed at the rear guard. I never actually saw any combat, but I heard the sounds and saw the floating suns the invaders created." The soldier told him. "We estimate that there are about 5 to 10,000 enemy troops stationed on that hill **(1)**. They are almost finished laying the foundations for their base. Soon, they will begin constructing Walls and Towers, and once those are up, we will have a very difficult time breaching them."

"Why do you say that?" Duran asked.

"Because the sorcery that the invaders used has made the ground uneven. Any Siege weapon we try moving into position will get stuck on the damaged terrain." The soldier answered.

"Then we are wasting our time here." Another king said.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here." Yet another said.

"Fools." Ligu said. "If we don't fight them, they may prove to be a threat to us as well. If they manage to conquer the empire, they will have the manpower to conquer our kingdoms as well."

This made the Kings that wanted to leave stop.

"I will attack the enemy with my army tomorrow at dawn." Ligu continued.

"Yeah. With us on the front lines." two other kings said almost at the same time.

Out of the 8 Kings assembled, only Duran and 2 others were hesitant on fighting.

The next morning

"Forward!" one of the Kings shouted. Soon the armies of two kingdoms began marching on Alnus Hill, followed by the armies of three others.

About a kilometer away, on a nearby Mountain

 _'What a bloody idiot…marching in through the front door like they knew what they were up against…'_ The sniper thought as she surveyed the army that followed the one who gave the order to advance.

"Maelstrom to Base, we got Hostiles numbering approximately 30 Kilo, followed by another numbering approximately 50 Kilo." She reported.

 _"Base to Maelstrom, Copy that. When they pass the KZ, take out their leaders."_ Came the reply.

"Roger that." She said.

She watched as the enemy army continued their advance, smashing down the Warning signs that marked the beginning of the Kill Zone. Some creatures even stepped on said signs.

"Maelstrom to Base. Opening Fire." With that she shot her first bullet, aiming for the first leader, a man in yellowish armor. She hit him squarely in the chest plate and she saw the ground behind him…through him…before he fell over. She then turned her focus on the other leader who had shoulder guards with a large X on them.

"Hmm…X marks the spot…" Naruko said to herself as she fires again, hitting the X in the middle.

"Targets Eliminated. Maelstrom Out."

Moments later a whistling sound was heard and suddenly the entire area was engulfed in flame.

Nearby Duran's horse got spooked, as did the horses of his escort.

"What the hell happened? Is Alnus Hill erupting?" Duran asked.

When the thundering sounds ceased, he gave the order for his party to advance.

Unknown to them, he was in the crosshairs of Naruko.

"Maelstrom to Base, the second wave has stopped their advance. They are rallying the retreating soldiers. But there is a small group approaching." Naruko said into her mic, finger slowly taking up the slack in the trigger.

 _"Let them live for now. They are probably a scouting party to see if there are any survivors."_

"Negative on the scouting party theory…there is a King amongst this group. He is stopping just outside of the KZ." Naruko reported.

 _"Let him live. He isn't attacking us, so there is no point in ending his life at the moment."_

"Copy that. Returning to observe the second Wave. Maelstrom Out."

 _"Base to Maelstrom. Affirmative. Base Out."_

Naruko watched as the survivors retreated. Due to the fact that the enemy had advanced in a line formation, the artillery could focus their fire, but it also meant that only a third of the first wave died in the Kill Zone.

After an hour or so she opened up comms again. "Maelstrom to base. The enemy if forming up for a three pronged attack. North, East and South, classic three sided attack."

 _"Base to Maelstrom, we picked up on the movement on our radar, but thanks for confirming it. Keep on observing."_

"The enemy is going to attack along a broad front. Prepare for an attack along 3/4 of the Perimeter."

 _"Damnit…how can she see all this…"_ Someone spoke over the radio.

"I am the closest thing to a fucking eye in the sky that we have, you Jackass." Naruto spoke into the radio.

 _"Oh, I am sorry…didn't know we had someone to have fun with later on."_ There was a lot of laughter at that.

"Oh I doubt you are capable of pleasing any female." Naruko jabbed back.

 _"Burrrrrn."_ Another person said.

 _"His embarrassment probably burns hooter than you passion."´_ The CO said. This enticed another round of laughter.

"Uhm, Boys…the enemy's front lines have reached the outer line of the KZ." Naruko said, trying not to laugh. "And besides, if you are so lonely, I am pretty sure that there are lots of men amongst the enemy who feel the same way…"

 _"OH HELL NO!"_ she was interrupted by hundreds of Voices as well as the laughter of many others.

"Then kindly Open fire in approximately 30 seconds…that is when the enemy will be at the inner line."

 _"What will you give us in return?"_ someone asked.

"I won't put a Bullet in your balls."

The com-chatter immediately stopped.

 _"Uhm, what if we are female?"_

"I'll shoot your purse and/or handbag."

Another moment of complete silence.

Then…

 _"Hey, Maelstrom. You up for a spar after this battle is finished?"_ Shino's voice came over the radio.

"Sure. Now I'd open fire, unless you want to be with the lonely enemies…" she didn't finish as the order to Fire came over the radio. Like an explosion Naruko saw a wall of Tracer rounds spread out from Alnus Hill, cutting down the attacking soldiers. Within half an hour, the slaughter was finished

 _"Base to Maelstrom. Return to base. The Battle is probably finished. And I believe you have a Sparring Date with someone."_

"Maelstrom to Base. Negative on returning to base. I see approximately 30 kilo more bravos still at the enemy encampment, with at least 15 survivors retreating. Will wait for morning, then return. If my hunch is correct, the next assault will happen tonight."

 _"And what makes you say that?"_

"It is what I would do in this situation."

At the ex-Imperial camp

"We have less than half of the 100,000 men we set out with…"

"We have been stupid not to learn from the Imperial's defeat…"

This from the two surviving Kings who actively supported the Battle.

"No. An army cannot learn from the mistakes of another army. I am just glad all of you survived. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for three of our comrades." Duran spoke up.

"I for one will not risk the lives of my subjects in a battle that we have no hope of winning. If the enemy comes to my castle, I will die fighting for my people, not for the Empire." One of the two kings who refused to fight the previous day spoke up. The other soon agreed.

The two defeated Kings then began discussing whether or not they should retreat.

"We cannot run now…at least I cannot." Duran spoke up. The two remaining kings looked at him in shock. "However I do share their thoughts."

"Then we should retreat…"

"Almost all the roads from here to the Imperial capital run near your borders. It would make sense for the enemy to take your lands first before taking on the Empire." Duran opened his eyes. "Unlike those two, I will not stand idly by as an enemy threatens an Ally's people."

"But you have seen what happens when we try attacking them…"

"What about a night attack?" Duran suggested. The other two became still at that, then thoughtful.

Just after midnight

The night was silent except for the quiet footsteps made by the soldiers comprising the entirety of the remaining forces.

Up in her hideout, Naruko followed their advance with her night vision scope.

"Maelstrom to Base. The enemy has just passed Point Delta. Feel free to begin the day a little early." Soon afterwards several flares were shot into the sky, illuminating the entire area.

With Duran

"What brightness…Oh shit…Everyone attack. Knights charge. Soldiers, run. Everyone, charge!" Duran shouted as he galloped forward. Suddenly he saw orange orbs approaching, but they missed him…but blew up large groups of his men.

Because of his frantic charge he failed to notice the razor wire that he galloped right into. He was thrown several meters. His men who managed to keep up with him cut through the wire to get to him, but were cut down as bright lights blasted into them. Moments later the lights stopped coming and Duran found himself surrounded by corpses.

With Naruko

Naruko saw the man get back up and pick up a bow and arrow. She held her fire because she knew that the machine gunners were far out of range for that bow. She then saw the explosions coming near him and decided to put him out of his misery. However, just after she shot, he moved. The bullet hit him in the upper arm, blasting it off. In the next instant a mortar shell landed a few feet from him. Naruto felt pity for the man as she saw a leg fall of from his silhouette.

Next morning

Naruko walked though the remains of the battlefield, utterly disgusted by how much Life needed to be lost in order for the battle to end. All around her were the charred and/or mutilated remains of soldiers from the three engagements.

"The death-toll is estimated to be at around 80,000." Shino said, approaching her from behind.

"Add that to the confirmed number of deaths at Ginza, the Empire has lost about 140,000 men." In anger Naruko kicked a helmet that still had a head inside it. "What kind of place is this, willing to sacrifice that many people? What kind of Nation are we fighting?"

"When was the last time you slept?" Shino asked.

"About 4 days ago." Naruko answered.

"Jeez. You are lucky we have already set up our tent. Come on; let's get you over there so you can rest." Shino said.

"I thought you wanted a sparring Date?" Naruko said.

"Who said anything about dating? Besides, I want to spar with you when you are fresh and awake." Shino said.

"Is sparring the only thing you want to do?" Naruko asked her.

"Well…to be honest, I sometimes want to kill some of the males who keep on ogling at my tits. Other times I feel jealous of you being able to ignore the various stares people send at you." Shino told her.

 _'That wasn't really what I wanted to know…_ If you want to learn how I do it…" Naruko said, picking up a broken bow limb. "…you would have to change your personality type from a hot-blooded one to a more calm and conserved one." She threw the bow limb away.

"I forgot to mention, but at times like this I feel like dropping the sparring part and just go with you on the second word…even if only to calm my nerves…" Shino said. It took Naruko a while to realize what she was saying.

"Same here, Yashi-chan. Same here…" she said.

Imperial capital

"Your Majesty, we expect there to be over 100.000 casualties in total amongst all the nations. Most of those in the defeated armies are left without leadership and are either heading home or… are deserting." A councilor said.

"All according to plan so far." Emperor Molt said. "Now we don't have to worry about our neighbors being able to threaten the Empire. Burn every field town and village from Alnus to the Imperial City. Poison the wells and have all of the livestock moved closer to the Capital. Make sure they are unable to gain any recourses from any of the land they conquer. That is enough to stop any army as well as leaving them vulnerable."

"A war of attrition…using scorched earth tactics." The councilor said. "But I am still worried about the deserters and the loss of the tax revenue."

"Defectors? What defectors?" Molt asked.

"There are motions to have you recalled within the Senate, beginning with Duke Casel." The councilor said.

"That makes a good opportunity to take care of the entire Senate in one swoop. Get the Council to investigate." Molt said.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Your Majesty." A female voice called out. Through the open doors strode a beautiful woman with long red hair in a braid. She had red eyes that clearly showed her dedication. Her armor left little to the imagination…as did the short skirt that formed part of the armor.

"My daughter. What do you need?" Molt asked.

"It is about Alnus, of course. I have learned that an allied army has faced miserable defeat, and that the Empire's holy ground, Alnus Hill, is occupied by enemy forces." She asked. "So what are you doing at a time like this?"

"We expect the enemy force to have been weakened enough for us to retake the hill…" the councilor began.

"WHAT COMPLACENCY!" she turned on him. "That will not help us stop the enemy invasion!"

"Pinya, you are correct." Molt spoke up.

She was Pinya co Lada, 5th child of Emperor Molt Sol Augustus and 10th in line for the throne of the empire.

"But we are for too ignorant regarding the enemy that occupies Alnus Hill. _We fought them thinking that their weapons and armor are similar to ours._ This is perfect. Could I ask you and your order to scout their position?" Molt said.

"Me?" Pinya asked. "With my order?"

"Indeed." Molt said, resting his head on his left fist. "If, as you always claim, your order is more than just your plaything, of course."

Pinya, realizing that he had caught her in a cave with only one exit, had to force down her pride and not give a remark about the jab her father sent at her order. It was technically his fault that her order has little to no experience regards to active combat, but Pinya had made sure that each and every one of its members were trained by the best, theoretically making them the strongest order in the empire, keyword being theoretically…they were never allowed to partake in tournaments or battles and were only used as honorary guards for corrupt VIP's…some of whom had made the mistake of trying to grope her tits, leading her to either end up with a red hand imprint on their faces, being sent to jail or both.

"I understand, your Majesty." Pinya forced out, knowing that the task given to her was next to impossible. Internally she was debating whether or not to simply surrender herself to the enemy forces…but her pride and honor kept her loyal to the empire.

On the other side of the Gate, United Stated of America, White House

The American president was in a discussion with numerous advisors concerning sending a division of Marines and Tanks to the other side of the Gate to help the JSDF as a 'token of support'. In reality they just wanted to actively take over the operations on the other side, but eventually decided to wait. If they were to partake in the events on the other side and shit goes to hell, they would share the responsibility.

Unknown to the Americans and the Japanese government, China and Russia were having the same damn conversations…with the same damn outcome.

Alnus Hill, day after the last battle, early morning, Command tent

"…So the higher ups have come to the conclusion that we will need to investigate the people, industries, religions and politics of this region." The desk-officer said looking up from the stack of papers he had in his hands. He saw a completely bored look on Naruko's face.

"So basically I am going to go out and doing recon whilst secretly investigating the possibility to acquire special rare recourses?" she said, suppressing a yawn. God she was tired from the desk officer's blabbering…which had gone on and on for 10 minutes.

"No." her head snapped to the man. "You have been chosen as one of the special recon teams, team 2 to be specific."

"So let me get this straight…you want me, a well known Lone Wolf support type person with issues when it came to normal daily life, such as having a extreme habit of going commando in public, to take command of a team of what I am guessing are greenhorns and go out on recon, something that isn't really covered beyond basics in basic training…" Naruko said.

"You are going way of course there, Lt." the man said, handing her the dossier for the various teams.

She took a moment to look through the profiles and team placements.

"I would like to have Staff Sergeant Kuribayashi from Team 3 and Sergeant Hyoudo **(2)** from my Team change places. Both are CQC specialists so there shouldn't be any issues." Naruko said.

"Is there any special reasoning behind your request?" the desk-officer asked.

"Kuribayashi is an old friend of mine. I know her personality and I can tell you with certainty that putting her under the command of Lt. Yuuji Itami, a well known Otaku and slacker, is a recipe for disaster. The only orders from him that she will obey are ones that involve beating the shit out of someone." Naruko said. "Sergeant Hyoudo on the other hand will go on my nerves. True, he is an outstanding CQC specialist, but he is a well known pervert who will take any opportunity to grope my tits and ass and try to get into my pants. Other than that he can be easily distracted by any female with large assets, which is likely to make him a liability in certain situations, such as infiltration. He is also deathly afraid of medics. As the only other female on Lt. Yuuji's team is a medic…it is the perfect punishment for a pervert like him."

The desk officer thought for a bit, before picking up the phone and calling the Base Commander. Naruko heard him state the reasons she had given (Without the swearing) for the change in personal.

"Permission granted. Now, you had better get ready as the Teams are to head out in 2 hours."

"Why am I notified this late then?" Naruko asked, almost shouting.

"Because everyone agreed to let you rest yesterday evening." Came the answer.

"…" Naruko decided not to make a remark, although she still opened her mouth to do so.

"Your team will be a bit bigger and slightly more heavily armed than the others. The reasons will be made clear when you receive your orders from the commander himself."

1 hour later

When Naruko heard the officer say 'a bit bigger and slightly more heavily armed', she imagined having one more truck in her team with a M2HB mounted on the roof. She didn't expect her team to be over twice the size of the others. She also didn't expect command to put 2 APC's with 20mm chain guns mounted in the turrets. Not only that, but she was given 4 heavy duty off road Komatsu LAV's, 2 of them with GAU 19 50 .cal Gatling guns. The last two LAV's had different equipment. The one had a short range radar device mounted on the roof, letting them know of everything the size of an APC within a 5 kilometer radius. The last LAV though had a radio signal amplifier and router on the roof, meaning they could communicate with practically anyone within a 100 kilometer radius and that any team could use their radio hub to communicate with Alnus Hill.

"I thought this was supposed to be a recon team, not a small fucking assault force…" Naruko shouted so loud those in the command tent heard her.

"That is because you will be doing deep recon missions inside the Empire itself. Since they are still hostile as far as we know, it makes sense that you would have…" the commander began.

"…enough firepower to wide out a fucking city?" Naruko asked, returning to normal volume. "Please don't tell me that everyone is using FN MAG's or German MG 5's…"

"No. Those under your command have been issued the same standard equipment as everyone else…apart from you and the other S's and some of the rangers."

"Still…taking a team the size of an assault force to do recon…bit Ironic, don't you think?" she asked.

Naruko sighed in relief, then went to her tent to prepare her gear as well as to get into her gear.

15 minutes later

Naruko had just stripped down completely and was reaching for the dark green outfit she had been issued with when Shino burst into the tent.

"Ruko-chan. Have you heard? We…" she stopped when she saw the state of dress Naruko was in. Shino was flustered by the sight, but Naruko…well…she just shrugged it off and continued dressing.

"We…uhm…I have been transferred from Team 3 to Team 2, which I believe is your team…" Shino said, trying to get rid of the images she had just seen.

"I actually requested that you and the CQC from the original roster swap places." Naruko said, finishing with the shirt and legs. "Originally I was to have a hard core pervert whose sole reason for not getting thrown out of the military is his CQC and Hit and Run skills." She finished tying her boots.

"Well, I would have been with a slacker and an Otaku…at least he isn't a perv." Shino said.

"This from the one who blushed when she saw my tits hanging freely…" Naruko teased. Shino blushed deeply. "But still, you need to get ready. In less than 35 minutes we will be meeting up with the rest of our assa…our team…"

"Right." Shino said, calming down, though the blush and images would remain for her until the end of the day.

Less than 30 minutes later

The personal of Team 2 was standing in front of their vehicles, waiting for their leader and the last member of their team to arrive, the latter arriving first.

"Sorry I am late." Shino said. "The straps of my rucksack broke and I had to repack everything."

"You are still early." One of the males said. He had long black hair tied in a messy pine-apple shaped ponytail.

Soon Naruko arrived.

"Company, Attention!" she called out. Everyone immediately went silent and stood to attention. Naruko looked at each of them. "When I call out your name and rank as well as your specialization and role, announce your present. Correct me if I make a mistake. Is that understood?"

"Ma'am/Sir, yes Ma'am/Sir!" they shouted, before looking at each other in confusion, not knowing whether or the title was Sir or Ma'am.

"Alright then." Naruko said, opening a file. **(3)**

"Nara Shikamaru, 2nd Lieutenant. Expert Tactician."

The pineapple head from before stepped forward, saluted and stepped back.

"Hyuuga Neji, 2nd Lieutenant. Expert Marksman."

A man slightly older than her with long black hair stepped forward…

"Hatake Kakashi, 2nd Lieutenant. Specialist in tracking, marksmanship and CQC."

A tall white haired man who had a face-mask.

"Maito Guy, 2nd Lieutenant. CQC specialist and expert stationary weapon user."

A tall man with a bowl cut hair style. Naruko almost gagged for some reason as green clothes do not suite him.

"Sarutobi Asuma, Sergeant Major. General purpose combat expert."

A tall man with a cigarette in the mouth and a pack in his breast pocket.

"Hiruzen Kurenai, Sergeant Major. Demolition specialist."

A long brunette with red eyes.

"Kuribayashi Shino, Sergeant Major. CQC specialist."

Well, its Shino…

"Haruno Sakura Sergeant Major. Combat Medic and Hand to Hand combatant."

A pink haired female with a purple diamond shaped tattoo on her (rather large) forehead.

"Aburame Shino, Staff Sergeant. Expert Tracker."

A man with dark brown hair and sunglasses. **(4)**

"Rock Lee, Staff Sergeant. Expert Hand to hand Combatant and Engineer."

A long man with a bowl cut hairstyle. Naruko had the same reaction as with Guy.

"Inuzuka Kiba, Sergeant. Expert Tracker."

A man her age with canines tattooed on both cheeks and messy brown hair. He had a large canine with him.

"Hyuuga Hinata, Sergeant. Expert Marksman."

A woman with slight resemblance to Hyuuga Neji.

"Yamanaka Ino, Sergeant. Negotiation specialist."

A female with long platinum blonde hair.

"Akimichi Choji, Sergeant. Heavy weapon expert."

A large brown haired man with very spiky hair.

"Higurashi Tenten, Sergeant. Weapons expert and small arms maintenance expert." **(5)**

A female with her brown hair tied in buns. She had several knives and handguns on her.

Naruko called up the 15 other people. 2 were medics, 4 were part of the engineering team and the rest were general purpose infantry.

"Alright. I am Lieutenant Uzumaki Naruko. I am in command of this group. Before we mount up, let me just say one thing: I feel uncomfortable with honorifics, so just call me Naruko. Any questions?" Naruko asked.

Kiba, Tenten and 4 others raised their hands.

"Too bad. I don't feel like answering any questions at this time." Naruko said. "Now mount up and let's get moving."

 **(1): I know the anime said 10.000, but really, I highly doubt the JSDF can afford to send that many people…**

 **(2): This guy is based off the male MC from Highschool DxD, only A LOT smarter and specializing in CQC…**

 **(3): I thought that the others also need some screen time…**

 **(4): I am just going to give a short description. They all step forward, salute and step back…**

 **(5): If anyone can give the surname, please do…**

 **Chapter 3, the**

6 days later

For the last six days Recon Team 2 has been scouting and mapping the area north-east of Alnus, which included Italica and bordering on Team 3's area to the south.

 _"L-T-chan, we got movement 5 clicks out."_ A male in the Radar LAV spoke into his Mic.

L-T-chan. That nickname for Naruko was coined by Kiba who had tried making a move on Naruko on the first day, only to find out it would be far safer for him to keep a healthy distance from her unless he had something to report. Well, the nickname stuck and now most call her that. Aburame Shino (aka. Shino B or Shinobi [due to the way Shino B sounds]), Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, Kurenai and Neji refer to her as Lieutenant. Kuribayashi Shino (Aka. Shino) still refers to her as Ruko-chan. Sakura, Tenten and Hinata called her Naruko.

"Get off the road and into that clump of trees. Everyone, get your machetes ready for rapid camouflage. We will see what they do first. Do not engage unless they do so first." Naruko said. "Shikamaru, take over. I am going over watch."

"Over watch?" several people asked…scratch that…everyone except for Shino asked. They quickly understood when they saw Naruko pick up her Barrette and climbed one of the tallest trees near the tree line.

"Don't worry boys and girls. Ruko-chan has always been like that." Shino spoke up whilst cutting up a small bush and passing the branches to some others to cover the vehicles.

"You sound like you know her." Neji commented.

"We are best friends…actually I am one of the few friends she has." Shino said, looking up at him. "I also know her true capabilities as well as her exploits. But don't ask me for that info. I want to remain friends with her."

"Well, just so you know, I have issues with following officers that I don't know very well. I have only heard of her 3 months ago, but I don't know her." Neji said.

"Well, she is an orphan who grew up in the slums. She had to fight for her daily living and treasures those she cares about. She will never give an order that she doesn't believe you can accomplish. That is why she dislikes academy officers as they come out of the academy untried in battle. That is why there is not a single person in this team who went through the officer academy." Shino said.

 _"Quite down there. I count 200 Bravos. They are heading towards Italica."_ Naruko's voice came over the radio. _"Shikamaru-san, Kakashi-san, connect my rifle-cam to your screens. I think you may want to see this."_

Shikamaru and Kakashi switched their screens over to the dedicated short range frequency.

 _"Looks like a Bandit army…"_ Kakashi muttered.

 _"Keep your voices down. I see some Fox people in that group."_ Shikamaru said.

 _"Set up a perimeter. Itami-baka is heading towards Italica as we speak. If these Bravos do attack the trade city, I want to be ready for rapid response."_ Naruko whispered over the radio.

 _"Yes Sir."_ Came the response.

They continued watching the Bandit army pass by.

That Evening

 _"Sir, Alnus is contacting us."_ The radio operator contacted Naruko, who was still in the tree.

"Patch them through to me." Naruko said. Moments later she heard some static followed by the Base Commander's voice.

 _"Maelstrom. Itami is currently in Italica. He says that there is a large bandit army assaulting the city and they need backup. We are going to send backup, but it will take a while for them to be prepared fully. Soonest they arrive is sunrise in two days. I need Team 2 to go and back up Team 3. You are the closest to them."_

"Alnus…you know that if I meet up with Team 3, there is a high chance that they will end up needing a new CQC specialist…" Naruko said.

 _"We trust you not to shoot him or to hurt him to badly. Alnus out."_

"Mount up. We are to go save that slackers ass." Naruko called down as she climbed down the tree. By the time her feet touched the floor the others had loaded the machine guns and were currently boarding the vehicles.

The engines were running by the time she reached her LAV and she hadn't even put her ass on the seat by the time the vehicle started moving.

"ETA about 30 minutes." Naruko said into her mic.

Meanwhile in Italica

"Itami-san, what are the chances we will be able to hold out for 2 days?" Kurata asked.

"Well, if things go well from the start, I'd say we have around a 50% chance of surviving." Itami asked.

"Hey, isn't Team 2 supposed to be in the area?" Hyoudo Issei asked. He never had heard the reason why he was transferred.

"They are, but we don't have their main frequency." Kuwahara said. They had had a weak reception shortly after arriving at Italica. Through the static they managed to convey their state to HQ. Before they got an answer though, the connection cut out.

"Uhm, sorry to interrupt, but some of the Men are getting uncomfortable hearing you speak a language they cannot understand." Pinya asked.

"You will have to forgive us for that but not all of us have learned to speak your language properly." Itami told her.

Suddenly the alarm went off.

"Enemy Attack!" the shout was taken up by many defenders as they began running towards the main gate. They were soon followed by the Members of Team 3.

10 minutes later

The vehicles were being pushed to their limit as Team 2 raced towards Italica.

"10 minutes!" came the call.

"Ready to initiate radio contact." The radio operator shouted.

"I hope the slacker has his radio on." Naruko said as she reached for the mic of her radio.

In Italica

"What Sorcery is that?" some of the Bandits shouted as they were basically mowed down by the members of Team 3 and the three girls they brought along…rather one of them…Rory was on a spree. The fighting immediately stopped when Itami's radio crackled, drawing everyone's attention.

 _"Oi, Slacker. You are still alive right? Or are you running away to save what little manhood you have?"_

"Yeah, I am here. What happened? Usually you would be the last person to contact me." Itami spoke into his mic, completely ignoring the silence and the stares most of the combatants were throwing at him.

 _"Well, currently I am the only one with the mic connected to the signal amplifier, so only the people in my LAV can hear what I am saying. The other ports currently are fucked. Now as you replied I am guessing that you are either playing dead or you are running."_

"Actually I am in combat you Bimbo Assault Sniper. And shouldn't you be assuming these things instead?"

 _"I don't 'Ass you me' you bastard. I haven't forgotten about what happened during the last training event."_ A pause. _"And I am calling Bull shit on you being in active combat. It is not your skill."_

"Nobody ever said that that is my only specialty." Itami growled.

 _"Neither did I. Team 2 is 8 minutes out. Patch me through to the pervert CQC specialist. I have a few words for him."_

"This is going to be interesting." Hyoudo said enthusiastically. Every other official member of Team 3 thought he had a death wish.

"This is Hyoudo…"

 _"Try to get yourself killed, will you? It will mean one less perverted asshole trying to get to his paws on my tits and his dick in my pants."_

Issei visibly flinched at those words.

"How do you know I would do that if I don't even know what you look like…"

 _"Because I read your file. You try to do that to every female who has tits larger that a double D-cup."_

"And what size are you?"

The bandit he had been fighting before was suddenly missing his head, followed in rapid succession by 9 others. Ten small craters appeared on the wall behind them.

 _"If I tell you the next one will go through your head. Shi-chan, can you put my Barrette back in its case for me?"_

And all hell broke loose again.

The bandits found themselves being peppered by bullets from 6 vehicles, though most still managed to escape death that evening. That was only the outside. After the sudden deaths the melee had resumed again and the JSDF people were unable to use their firearms.

One minute later

"Hey, have a look at this. A hot babe is here." One of the Bandits shouted out, pointing towards Pinya, who had decided to join the battle.

"Let's have her serve our needs…" another shouted, but a voice shut him up.

"You won't have any needs in Hell once I send you there."

"Oh…you should just lie down and spread your legs…" the bandits said to the new voice, a red haired female with large breasts, holding what appeared to be a heavily modified SCAR-L.

"Oh God. I am feeling sorry for that bunch." Itami said, speaking in the native language.

"Why?" came the question.

"She won't let anyone live…"

The Bandit wasn't finished before a bullet shattered his skull. Everyone looked at Naruko, who had a smoking SCAR in her hands. Few had seen her move.

"I am not some fucking whore that is going to do that. Go visit a fucking whorehouse if you need to fuck something." Naruko growled, KI was radiating from her like light from a light bulb. "And the rest of you…if you don't lay down your arms now, you will follow this Fucker to Hell."

"And how will you do that? There is only one of you and a whole lot of us." One of the Bandits said, rallying the others.

"Everyone, get out of her line of sight. NOW!" Itami shouted out as he began pushing civilians around a corner.

The defending force had barely gotten out of her sight before Naruko blew up, seemingly literally. The bandits were shown no mercy as bullets tore them to shreds. Naruko even kept peppering them when they were all corpses.

Naruko only calmed down once her drum mag was empty.

"Thanks for the warning, Itami-dono…but how did you know what was about to happen?" Pinya asked.

Most of Team 3 and 4 as well as many of the defenders nodded in agreement.

Itami sighed. "When I graduated from the Officer Academy I was given command of a squad. For a few years things went well, we trained, we laughed…basically the squad and I were happy with the way things were. Then three years ago I was promoted to Lieutenant and was given command of a Battalion." Itami paused, looking at Naruko who was busy gathering the spent shell casings. "Naruko had been out of training for only a month and she already was a warranted officer, a Staff Sergeant if I am not mistaken." Itami turned back to the spectators and held up a finger. "One week." The listeners looked confused. "It took one week for her to figure me out completely, my habits, my personality, my weaknesses…eventually she spoke out against me about it, especially my habit or talent of running away."

"Running away?" several people asked amongst themselves.

"He has the ability to run away with anyone or anything and never be caught. It is not necessarily a bad skill to have, indeed, it actually makes him an outstanding body guard." Naruko said as she approached, having heard the entire thing from the beginning. "At the time I didn't know about it, so I accused him of being a coward and a slacker and challenged him to a competition."

"Really? And he is not running away from you?" Shino asked.

"The Old Man prevented it from happening." Naruko said.

"From the word she threw at you it sounded like she hated you." Pinya commented.

"It is not that I hate him." Naruko told her. "It is just that I strongly disapprove of many of his habits. I do respect him for being able to think on his feet and all but he is still a fucking slacker."

"Back to my story…2 weeks after my transfer to her Unit she was given the opportunity to train to be a ranger. That was the last I heard of her until the joint training exercise with the Marine Corps of the US. I didn't partake in that, but I still heard the stories of the 'Red Ghost Sniper' and the modern day 'Rambo of Japan'."

"I am just glad that those two were the ones given to the press…some of the other titles I was given are much worse." Naruko said. Itami agreed with her.

"And I won't say what those names are…I do want to remain alive and even my talent cannot save me from her wrath." He told everyone. "But there is one that I can tell you all." The look he sent Naruko said 'It's THAT one'. "Over the few weeks I had her in my squad, everyone created a list of things NOT to do or say with her around. If each and every one of those things were a switch, well, that was the reason one of the titles NOT sent to the press was 'Deadly, Short Tempered Redhead'."

"Uhm, sorry for saying this, but that hot female isn't carrying a sniper rifle…why is she referred to as the 'Red Ghost Sniper'?" Issei said, managing to tear his eyes of her Tits much to her relief. "I mean, everyone back in Japan has heard about her, but there have never been any photo's released to show who she is."

"You try wielding a Barrette 50 .cal in close quarter combat." Naruko told him, staying a healthy distance (For his sake) away from him.

"Wait…a Barrette 50 .cal?" Issei asked, incredulously. "I thought one needs a special license for that."

"She is ranked amongst the top 15 snipers in our world." Itami said before becoming serious.

"From what we have been able to gather the Bandits are hell bent on conquering this city. As you have seen, there aren't enough of us in Team 3 to cover every stretch of wall. Also the local guards here are too ill equipped and untrained."

"That is because Italica is one of the wealthiest trade cities in the Empire. Added to that, if the Bandits do conquer this city they will basically have control over a major part of the Trade network." Naruko said. "And I'd rather defend this city now than having to conquer it later."

"WHAT?" Pinya asked. Itami and Shikamaru sighed, knowing where Naruko was getting at.

"It may be difficult for you to understand this, but we were trained to fight against injustice to innocent civilians. If the Bandits capture this city they will have gained a foothold that your empire will be hard-pressed to recapture. They thus are able to rove around the countryside, slaughtering and pillaging as they please." Naruko told her.

"And since it goes against our morals to allow such things to happen, we would have to step in and attack the city with the intent of conquest." Shikamaru said.

"Then why don't you try conquering Italica right now?" Pinya asked.

"Because we never came here with the intent to conquer in the first place. We only set up the Base at Alnus to prevent another invasion from happening." Itami said.

Suddenly all themes of seriousness disappeared when Naruko beat the living daylights out of Issei who had managed to sneak up behind her and grabbed her Breasts…Shino and Itami told the others not to interfere with his punishment, else they get caught in the crossfire.

 **And done.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this new story so far.**

 **Feel free to leave a review…unless you are a guest…**

 **Omake**

What if Issei and Shino never swapped places

Scenario 1:

Naruko was going through the Roster when she suddenly felt someone grab her boobs. Acting on reflex, she barely managed to register Issei's face before her fist shattered his lower jaw.

He was sent home to Japan with an Disciplinary charge and a medical discharge.

Scenario 2:

Naruko sitting and eating her MRE when she felt someone grope her ass. She grabbed her assault rifle…

Team 2 held a small funeral…well, most of Team 2…and Issei Hyoudo was listed as confirmed KIA to to stupidity.

Scenario 3:

Naruko was up on the high ground, scanning the area with her rifle when she saw Issei jerking off to a picture of her that he got from who-knows-where on his tablet. Taking aim, she released the safety of her rifle and pulled the trigger.

Issei got the fright of his life when his tablet got shot to pieces. His scream got everyone else to approach him and caught him with his pants down…literally…

Scenario 3 v. 2:

Instead of shooting the Tablet, Naruko shot Issei's dick and balls off. His screams made everyone else come running, but only one of them saw the reason why he was suddenly a eunuch.

If Shino and Issei were both on Naruko's Team

Scenario 4:

"Hey Shino-chan…" Issei said, only to have a gun held to his head.

"Don't you go fucking 'chan' on me, you pervert." She then smashed her fist into his face.

Scenario 4 v. 2:

"Hey, Yashi-…" Issei said, only to have a gun held to his head.

"Only Naruko may call me that, bastard." She punched him in the stomach.

Scenario 4 v. 3:

"Hey, Kuribayashi-san." Issei said.

"Yes, Hyoudo-san?" Shino replied.

"What are your sizes?" his answer came in the form of a leg in his groin.

Scenario 4 v. 4:

"Hey, Kuribayashi-san." Issei said.

"Yes, Hyoudo-san?" Shino replied.

"You are friends with L-T-chan, right?" he asked. She nodded.

"How is she in bed?"

Team 2 held a short funeral to which two members didn't attend…

Scenario 5:

Shino and Issei were currently sparring against each other.

"Ultimate technique: Females Virtues." He suddenly said, getting past Shino's defence…and pressing his face against her breasts, which were covered only in a sports bra.

 _With Team 3_

Team 3 was currently fighting the Red Dragon. The beast was about to dodge the Panzerfaust that was shot at it when a loud scream reached its ears, distracting it enough to let the Panzerfaust hit its shoulder, blasting its arm off.

What does Issei learn from these events?

Absolutely nothing. He will continue trying to get his hands on both Narukos and Shino's breasts and ass…and maybe also in their pants… he should have stayed in Kuoh Highschool instead of joining the army…


	2. Chapter 4 - Chapter 6

**Hi everyone. AYFS here. Listen, whilst reading the last chapter, I came across a small mistake. One that wasn't picked up by anyone else…and honestly, I don't blame anyone.**

 **In Chapter 3, just before Itami begins his recount of when he first met Naruko, I wrote 'Most of Team 3 and 4…'. It should have been 'Most of Team 2 and 3…'. Initially I had planned on giving Naruko command over team 4, but then decided to give her Team 2 instead. I cannot remember what make me make the change sadly.**

 **Also, sorry for the very long wait. The website I usually use to stream my anime went FUBAR (And no, I am not saying which one it is) and a fan of this story suggested a new one. Therefore, give thanks to 'I love Inyouchu Anime' that I am finally able to continue the story. Please Note that it does not mean that this will become a primary**

 **Comments/Answers to your reviews:**

 **iZuikaku:** I already said that Issei in this AU is deadly scared of Medics and that the only female on his team just so happens to be one…Isn't that sadistic enough already? Besides, I just added Issei to fill the gap that Kuribayashi left in Team 3…I left him as a perv, but made him more useful by making him a CQC specialist…something that he will never become in Highschool DXD…powerful? Yes. Good at hand to hand combat? Need I answer the question?

 **William Thunderion:** Ah…sorry about that…was having a dull moment when I added his name later on (I had initially planned on just putting the Konoha 11 there) and thought that looked at his father's name like a westener would…i.e. I thought Sarutobi was the given name of the third Hokage. By the Time I begin writing this upload, I will have rectified that problem.

As for why his name and that of the other Jonin was added later…I thought it would make more sense for there to be at least some veterans in the team.

And since we are on the topic of names, Aburame Shino's name within the team is going to be Shinobi from now on as it sound better than Shino *pause* B. Also, I think it adds another link between in the story between Naruto and Gate…

 **Perseus12:** Thanks. I hope the other chapters will continue to impress.

 **Pravda93:** Thanks for the like. Well, Issei got what he deserved and all. If you feel sympathy for Issei though you may want to skip parts of this next upload…it could be painful…

 **Alex2909:** In which way? Her seductiveness or the fact that she likes toying with everyone?

 **Now, onto the story. I know I skipped a lot of the story in the first bit, but that was done intentionally as Naruko is on another team. Her story will be very different…**

 **But for now, Personal roster time:**

Name: Uzumaki Naruko

Rank: 1st Lieutenant

Specialization: Sniper, Assault, CQC

Affiliation: JSDF, Rangers, Special Forces

Call sign: Maelstrom

Official Titles: 'Red Ghost Sniper', 'Queen of Pranks'

Unofficial Titles: 'Rambo of Japan', 'Deadly, short tempered Redhead', 'Hot Bombo Sniper', 'Sniping Gender Changer', 'Hot Devil of Death', 'The Sniper any Male would want to get a shot at'

Physical features: FF-cup size and proportional hips, hourglass figure

Hair color: Red

Eye Color: Violet

Additional Info: Orphan who grew up on the streets, views Minister Tanō as a surrogate grandfather, extremely loyal to her friends, very short temper, known to react Violently when groped without permission,

Name: Kruibayashi Shino

Rank: Sergeant Major

Specialization: CQC

Affiliation: JSDF

Call sign: none

Official Titles: None

Unofficial Titles: Short, scary Bimbo'

Physical features: E-cup size and proportional hips, hourglass figure, Somewhat muscular physique,

Hair color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Additional Info: Worked her way up the ranks of the military, hates perverts to the point of physically threatening them if they get to close, prefers to let her actions do the talking for her,

 **Chapter 4**

Italica

After Naruko finished remodeling Issei's face, she, Itami and Pinya sat down to officially form a truce and temporary alliance.

Meanwhile, Team 3 was restocking their ammo from the supply tailor Team 2 had brought along…well, one of the trailers that is.

"Man, that is a lot of firepower you are carrying around." Kurata commented, seeing that the trailer also carried a few Grenade Launchers and AT missiles.

"When we set out we found LT-chan grumbling about how we were armed for an assault or something…" Kiba said.

"At first we thought she was going crazy…" Tenten added.

"…but after opening this trailer for the first time…well…you can guess the rest." Neji finished.

"Yeah. No kidding." a mummified-head Issei said. "Are you sure your designation is 'Recon' Team 2 and not 'Combat' Team 2 or 'Team of Mass Destruction 2'?"

The members of Team 2 had a moment of Déjà vu…their thought had almost been the same to the letter…

Suddenly Hinata screamed, making every JSDF personal get on the defensive, but grumbled seeing the false alarm…Issei's hands had managed to find their way onto her tits…which were very sizeable…and far larger than the DD-cup threshold…

Well…the males didn't feel sympathy for Issei for what he got afterwards…even though Hinata knew very well how to kick…and where… They did feel a drop of sympathy for the fact that Issei may not be able to have any offspring…ever…

Hinata walked away, crimson red face, ignoring the fact that she may have completely crushed his manhood.

"My cousin let you of light there." Neji said, approaching the grounded form of Issei. "…but if you ever do that again, I will personally make sure that having no balls will be the least of your problems…I. Will. Cut. It. Off!" he punctuated each word with a scowl.

Issei nodded, whimpering due to the pain he was feeling. The fact that Neji and Hinata didn't have pupils per se was frightening him enough…add an anger element to that…Issei's conscious, subconscious, unconscious and soul placed Hinata on the no-go list…making it the second name to go on that list. The first being a girl in his old school who scared him by actually enjoying the times he placed his hands on her tits…though what made her get placed on the list was the fact that she later tried to get into HIS pants…Raynare was called a slut ever since then…and what made him put her name on that list was that she actually enjoyed the title and went about laying almost every male and most of the females in their grade within the first year…usually out-fucking the males both in the single sessions and the orgies she roped them into…

Whilst Naruko had the superb figure that would put the likes of Raynare to shame, the reason she was not on the list is because she hasn't done anything to traumatize him to that level…yet…  
She had come close though…

With Hinata

Hinata was crying behind a corner following the recent event. Neji, Kiba and Ino were trying to comfort her. Shino joined in a bit later.

"You know, Hinata-san…" she said, "…that was a very good kick you gave him." She said kneeling down before her. The looks from the other three told her that it wasn't helping.

"She was repeatedly teased and molested in school." Neji said. Instead of surprise, as Neji and Kiba had expected, Shino actually felt sympathy for the bluenette.

"You…know what she went through?" Ino asked.

Shino nodded. "In my school I had the largest bust out of anyone…even the females in the grades above me had smaller assets." She sighed, recounting a clearly painful memory. "For most of my high school carrier, I was known as the 'school slut' and try as I might, I couldn't get rid of the rumors that the older females started spouting around."

"Why didn't you change schools then?" Kiba asked.

"I had 6 friends there…I couldn't just leave them." She answered. "After entering the 10th grade, some of the older males started abusing two of my friends…" she closed her eyes and closed her hand into a fist at the memory, "The next day I was called into the principal's office on charges of assault. I explained to him everything, the names, the false rumors, the abuse…heck, I even suggested he bring in a gynecologist to prove that I was still a virgin." By now Hinata was looking at her wide-eyed. "The principal just stared at me, then called for my homeroom teacher. When he arrived, he confirmed my statements of being called names and having rumors circulating about me, he was horrified. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could have done as most of the instigators were writing their mid-year preliminaries at that time and removing them would certainly give the school a bad reputation."

"That is enough…you don't have to continue." Hinata said. Her school carrier had never been that had. Yes, she was in a similar situation as Shino, having had the largest bust and all, but her peaceful nature allowed her to have many friends at least.

Even the normally stoic Neji was showing sympathy for the brunette. Kiba looked as though he was about to tear someone apart in anger and Ino was pale. She was actually feeling disgusted with herself as she used to be a bully herself.

Hinata and Neji then realized something. On the outside, Shino may appear like a bit of a bitch, and yes, she has a personality that made her appear like a happy bruiser, but on the inside she was very similar to Hinata: caring, gentle, peaceful, but she was also willing to stand up for others, even willing to break rules to do so.

"And here I was thinking that you were some Kung-Fu woman with a stick up your ass…" a new voice said. They turned around to see Sakura, Tenten, Lee, Shino, and a few others standing behind her.

"In all honesty, I never expected you to be the caring sort." Sakura continued.

"I learned to care after getting to know Ruko-chan." Shino said. "If you think my life was harsh…her's makes mine look like a walk in the park…"

"Please explain." Shinobi said.

"It is not for me to say." Shino looked at him. "Some of the things she said are…let's just say that I don't think anyone but her should tell you…"

"Was her life that bad?" Neji asked.

"From the few things she told me, yes." Shino answered. "And don't just go and ask her…I honestly believe that her wounds may not have healed completely yet…or at all…"

"I didn't see any wounds on her…" Issei said, approaching. He had only heard Shino's last words so he didn't know what was going on.

"Fuck off, pervert." Shino beat Neji and Kiba to those words. "You already made an traumatic impact on Hinata…we don't need you to do the same to anyone else."

"Hey, I will try my best to keep my distance from her from now on." He said. "I swear on my honor as a CQC specialist. But what is this about Naruko-chan and scars?"

Before anyone could answer he heard a loud 'click' behind him. Turning around, he got face to face with the muzzle of a Barrette 50 .cal Sniper Rifle less than three inches from his face.

"Care to repeat what you called me?" he heard the redhead on the other side of the barrel say with a sickly sweet voice…and a face that promised a very painful death at the wrong answer.

"Now, now…" Itami said, placing his hand on the rifle and pushing it away. "He was just asking a question about you, that is all."

"For some reason that makes me want to puke." Naruko muttered, but switched the safety back on.

"Lt. is it true that you had a hard life?" Lee asked. Shino face-palmed…she had just told them not to ask.

But it was not Naruko who answered.

"She has had it harder than all of us…possibly harder than anyone in the JSDF." Itami said.

Issei completely misunderstood the statement. Luckily for him, he kept his mouth shut.

 _"Itami-Taicho. There are enemy scouts half a click out to the south east."_ Sōichirō called over the radio.

"Roger that." Itami answered.

"Neji, Hinata. The two of you go and take up over-watch in the church tower at the centre of town." Naruko told the two cousins. "You may take your DMR's with you."

"Itami-dono. Would you and Naruko-dono take up positions at the southern Gate?" Pinya asked. "I don't have the men to spare on that front…"

"Let Itami handle that Gate." Naruko said. "I have sent two of my people to the tower over there to watch for enemy movement. I'll have the rest of my people guard the north and west gates."

"Thank you." Pinya said, relief evident in her voice.

Later that day, near evening

Itami was patrolling the wall around the southern gate when he was contacted by Naruko.

 _"Oi, Slacker. Is it just me or is it far too quiet on our fronts?"_ Naruko asked.

"What makes you say that?" He asked.

 _"Well, according to Shikamaru's analysis, the bandits will go wherever they find the least resistance."_ Naruko said.

"Well, Pinya-hime probably is planning on making our fronts seem like just that…" he was interrupted by Naruko.

 _"That may be true, but it appears as though the majority of these bandits are survivors from the recent battle at Alnus."_ Alarm bells started going off in Itami's head. _"Those guys will see us and know they won't get past us."_

"And since we are covering three of the 4 possible entrances…" Itami said.

 _"Right. I am already putting 2 LAV's on standby. If everything goes to shit, I'll let you know."_ Naruko said.

"What about the two in the tower?"

 _"I already ordered them to watch the eastern gate. I sent Kakashi up there with as backup."_

"And where are you going to be?"

 _"I will be where I am needed."_ She answered.

Before Itami could answer, Kakashi called in over the radio.

 _"Naruko, you may want to come up here with your rifle…You are not going to like this!"_

Shortly afterwards

Naruko went to pick up Pinya and Itami before heading over to the tower.

"What is going on?" Naruko asked, climbing up the ladder with her Rifle slung over her shoulder.

"It were better if you saw for yourself." Kakashi said, pointing towards a clump of trees. He also had a small computer in his hand.

"Patch in the rifle-cam." Naruko said as looked through the scope. Pinya gasped when she saw the image suddenly appear on the screen.

"What am I looking at?" Naruko asked, though the answer was blatantly clear.

"Some form of siege machine. I have never seen anything like it." Kakashi said.

"A Dragon Tube?" Pinya gasped, getting over her shock of seeing images on the small unknown device, only to jumped right back into shock seeing WHAT was ON the pictures.

"A what now?" Naruko asked.

"A powerful siege machine that spits Fire or pressurized Air over long distances." Pinya explained. "Usually it is used in conjunction with a mage or spirit user, but lesser ones have been known to exist that shoot steam into the faces of the defenders."

"So basically this thing is a jumbo sized flame-thrower…" Naruko muttered. "Any weaknesses?"

"You mean apart from the fact that it is very big and difficult to maneuver?" Pinya asked. "Well, if the Mage of Spirit user were to be taken out, then the weapon wouldn't be able to work…at least not one of this size. But they usually are protected by a shell of wood or metal to protect them from arrows."

"And how far can the thing fire?" Kakashi asked.

"Depends on the magic involved." Pinya said. "If it is a fireball spell that is accelerated by air, it wouldn't even have to move from there to be able to bombard any location here in Italica."

"Kakashi…how far do you think it is? 1-4 Mikes?" Naruko asked.

"Probably more like 1-5." he answered.

"Not bad for something made from wood." Naruko muttered.

"Care to explain what the numbers mean?" Neji asked.

"This Dragon Tube thing has a range of roughly 1.5 miles." Kakashi said.

"In any case, we need to do something about that machine." Naruko said.

"Got any Ideas?" Kakashi asked. Naruko reached for her radio.

"I may have a few." Naruko told him before dishing out orders through the radio.

"Ten, you like playing with fire, don't you?" she said.

There was a moment of silence, then…

 _"What do you have in mind?"_ Tenten answered and even though they couldn't see her, they knew from the tone of her voice that she was smirking evilly.

Unnoticed by the others in the tower, Neji gave a shudder at the tone his secret girlfriend used.

Later that night

It was clear that the Bandits were expecting the defenders to do something. They had placed guards every 20 meters in a large circle around the Dragon Tube. None of the civilians or normal defenders could have gotten past them without raising the alarm.

Unfortunately for the bandits, Itami and Naruko weren't normal defenders…or normal soldiers for that matter…

"You sure that these explosives will work?" Itami whispered.

"Trust me…Tenten is an Weapons and Explosives fanatic." Naruko whispered back. "She could build an H-bomb from scrap materials and sewer water."

In Italica

Neji jumped slightly when Tenten suddenly sneezed…whilst working on a claymore anti personal mine…

Back outside

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Itami whispered.

"Hey…you are not the one who has to carry all this stuff." Naruko hissed/whispered. It was true. Tenten had given them 6 pounds of C4 and half a kilo of Thermite. Their plan was placing it inside the barrel: The Thermite would ignite to any flames used by the mages, but they also added an impact fuse in case they used solid ammunition propelled by air. Either way…the first use should blow the device to pieces.

In any case…Naruto was carrying all of this stuff on her back.

20 minutes later

"Well, that was way too easy." Naruko whispered as they leopard crawled away.

"So much the better." Itami lazily whispered. His duty had been to keep watch for any patrols while Naruko climbed into the Barrel and placed the explosives.

"I am just surprised you didn't run away." Naruko whispered.

"Who said I wasn't running away?" he answered.

"Rory?" she asked. He nodded.

"She scares the crap out of me sometimes…" he said. By now they were safely away from the Bandit sentries.

"I thought you were an Otaku…I thought you liked Goth Lolis." she smirked.

"That is true, but she is a sadist…" Itami protested.

"In other words she is your type?" she continued.

"Says the one who has a girl stalking her…"

"Hey, Shi-chan is the only one who can keep up with me in CQC…well, if neither of us are holding back, I doubt I could win against her." Itami stared at her.

"Your tone of voice makes it appear as though you are a les!" Itami said finally.

"I wouldn't know…never been in a relationship with anyone before." Naruko shrugged as she stood up. They were close to the City walls by now, just outside of the sentry fire's light. "You should know better than everyone just how deeply I had buried my emotions up until I met Shi-chan."

"If possible, you'd have buried them deeper than the core of your own personal world." Itami answered standing up as well.

Sometime later, Italica City Hall

"I thought you were going to destroy that device." Pinya shouted.

"Oh…it will be." Itami said.

"How? I have yet to see this ball of fire you spoke off!" Pinya shouted. Behind her those of her knightly order stood. Most of them agreed with Pinya's words.

"Well, look at it this way…" Naruko said. "What would dishearten the enemy more…Their weapon exploding when they use it for the first time or it blowing up in the middle of the night?"

"How the hell should I know?" Pinya shouted.

"Then put yourself in their shoes." Kakashi said.

"What would you feel like if your new weapon got destroyed when you use it for the first time?" Sōichirō added.

Pinya opened her mouth to argue, but then the meaning of the words sunk in…and not just in her. All of the Rose Knights came to the same realization.

"They would lose spirit." Pinya finally said.

"And fight with far less vigor." Shikamaru added his thoughts. "Your people and the townspeople need every advantage they can get."

Pinya couldn't believe her ears.

"You…what…why?" she asked Naruko and Itami.

"You yourself said that Italica is a neutral city state." Itami said.

"And we of the JSDF fight to protect those who cannot protect themselves." Naruko finished. "Your empire may have started this war, but that doesn't mean it needs to end in violence."

"And we shall do our best to protect the innocent civilians of those countries that do not partake in this war, be it from Bandits or the Empire or any other threat." Kakashi finished.

With that, the members of Teams 2 and 3 left and returned to their posts, leaving a group of stunned knights behind.

Next morning

The defenders as awoken by the sound of battle cries that signaled another assault by the Bandit army.

Up in the tower, Neji was looking at the display through the telescopic sight.

"Lieutenant, the enemy is on the move." He reported.

 _"Any movement by the Artillery?"_ Naruko asked.

"There are people pushing it forward." Neji reported. "And it looks like someone is standing behind it with a staff of some sort and some weird outfit…definitely a wizard."

 _"Roger that. Pinya-hime is standing on the balcony overlooking the courtyard just inside the gate."_ Naruko told him. _"Let's hope that the bandits haven't yet discovered the explosives."_

Down in the courtyard

Pinya was standing there, looking at the various defenses the defenders had set up. Two lines of barricades made from sharpened poles and a palisade like structure behind each of them.

She was glad that the JSDF had offered to take over guarding the other three gates as she now had all of her available knights here at the eastern gate, forming a screen between the gate and the remaining guardsmen. Behind said guardsmen were the men and women who formed a crude militia.

"Princess. The Bandits are rolling up their Dragon Tube." One of her knights who was standing on the battlements called out to her.

"Let's hope those JSDF people spoke the truth." Pinya said. Less than a minute later the ground shook as a violent explosion erupted from outside the city walls.

"What the…?" Pinya said as she held onto the railing.

Cries of fear and horror were heard from outside the walls, only to be drowned by the shouted orders to advance.

"Princess…the enemies Dragon Tube…It just blew up…it has been destroyed!" the knight shouted. All around Pinya could hear shouts of victory from the defenders and couldn't help but feel the morale rising.

"Those green idiots…I will have to thank them later…" she muttered behind a smile.

With the response team

"I'd say that is our cue." Naruko said as they heard the loud explosion.

"No Shit Sherlock." Shino said as the engines of the LAV started.

 _"Daicho, the bulk of the enemy is heading to the southern gate. They must think that there is a mage with long distance magic spells on the eastern side."_ Neji called over the Radio.

"You hear that, Lazy Ass?" Naruko said. "You are going to have visitors."

 _"A little late, don't you think?"_ Itami said over the sound of gunfire. _"No need to send backup though. That M2HB you gave us is making it difficult for us to shoot with anything else…"_

"Then let the M2 rest and let your rifles sing for a bit." Naruko suggested.

 _"There is no need for that."_ Neji radioed.

"Explain." Shino said.

 _"The bandits are retreating. At least 50 casualties from what I can see."_ He reported.

"Copy that." Naruko switched to the Team wide frequency. "All Units, get some rest but keep some people on watch at all times."

 _"Roger!"_ Came the response.

"Overwatch, if both of you need to rest at the same time, let me know." Naruko said.

 _"Copy that."_ Hinata said.

 _"Why don't we just go and take care of the survivors?"_ Lee asked _. "It is straining my youthfulness just sitting here…"_

"If you have that much energy, why don't you go and help the eastern gate with whatever help they need?" Naruko asked. Honestly…she was wondering how Lee and Guy made it past the ranger trials with their 'Springtime of Youth' vocabulary.

 _"A Youthful decision indeed."_ Guy said.

"…and you, Guy, can join him…" Naruko added.

The two stamina freaks sped off with that towards the eastern gate.

 _"That was pretty harsh of you…"_ Asuma said.

 _"Not really…they deserve to do something like this…"_ Kurenai, who had the misfortune of being in the same LAV as those two, said.

 _"I wasn't talking about about Lee and Guy…I mean, what have the Townsfolk done to deserve having those two helping them?"_ Asuma asked.

"I overheard several of them claiming that we have absolutely no troubles whatsoever…What, should I call them back?" Naruko asked.

 _"NO!"_ she didn't need a radio to hear the answer…

 **Chapter 5**

Bandit camp

"What are the demons of Alnus doing here in Italica?" one of the ex Imperial officers asked.

"They probably used their sorcery to predict our attack on this city and quickly conquered it…" another one said.

"I doubt it…" the Bandit leader said gruffly.

"What makes you say that?" the first asked.

"Because if they had, there would have been men stationed all along the wall. Also, I saw the remaining guardsmen and knights of that flower order assemble at the eastern gate, but it didn't look like they are going to leave." The leader said.

"Then that is where we should attack!" the second stated.

"Agreed…we still have the ram…we can break the gate down and storm the city before anyone knows what is happening…" the leader said.

Unknown to anyone in the tent, a small barely visible spirit orb dissolved into nothingness.

With the caster of the Spirit orb

The green haired Siren opened her eyes before turning to the guard captain next to her.

"No suspicious movement between us and Italica." She told him.

"Good work, Myuute." The man said.

"I will see if I can get my spirits into the city." She said before heading towards Italica.

"Be careful." He called out. She waved in acknowledgement.

Shortly afterwards, Italica Church tower

"That lady is either really stupid or really brave." Neji commented. He and Hinata were tracking Myuute's movement since she left the bandit camp.

"Overwatch to Group Leader. We have a single figure approaching the city. Female by the looks of things." Hinata spoke into the radio.

 _"What is she doing?"_ came the reply.

"She is walking towards the northern gate, staying just outside the light from the sentry fires." Neji said, which Hinata repeated into the radio.

 _"Keep her in your sights, but hold your fire."_ Naruko said.

"Roger."

North Gate

"Have everyone get out of sight." Naruko quietly called out to Shikamaru.

"Where are you going to do?" he whispered back.

"Probably scare the crap out of her." Naruko said with a grin that sent a shiver down his spine.

Short time later

Myuute used her wing like arms to enhance her jump over the wall and into the courtyard, which to her surprise was empty. Only…it wasn't empty.

"If I were you…" she flinched so violently that she lost a few feathers from her arms, "…I'd stay silent and state your reason for being here!" Behind her stood a tall (taller than her at least) red haired female holding a large single sided Dagger with a rough edge on one side. **(Think about Rambo's survival knife)**

The woman had violet eyes and…looking further down…Myuute couldn't help but feel jealous of her assets.

"If you like what you see, you will have to defeat me in single combat to get a feel of them." Naruko said, completely throwing Myuute of balance as she had not expected her to say that. The next thing she knew the edge of the knife was pressed against her neck.  
"Now, if I were you, I'd start talking." The tone in Naruko's voice told Myuute that she wouldn't have the option to negotiate.

"I…I have come to warn you…" she began.

"Then get straight to the warning!" Naruko growled. All around men and woman in green started appearing…which startled Myuute as she hadn't sensed their presences at all…either.

"The bandit leader…he is…" she didn't finish the sentence before the alarm went off at the east gate. "Too late. He is attacking."

"What do you mean?" Naruko asked.

"He is planning on making a continuous assault on the eastern gate with the entirety of his forces." She said.

"So he is planning a breakthrough by using continuous waves to eventually breaking through the defenders?" Naruko asked to confirm. She nodded.

"A little late now, don't you think?" Naruko asked.

The sirens answer was delayed out by another explosion…to Naruko it sounded like the eastern gate collapsing…

"Hey, I was as surprised as you were when they began their assault!" Myuute said.

"You know one of our lookouts have been following your movements since you left the camp?" Naruko asked. The siren's eyes widened. "And once your destination was confirmed, they returned their attention to the bandit camp, only to see the advance units approaching the eastern gate?" the eyes looked as though they would fall out.

"What? How…" Myuute began.

 _"You should probably add that we could have shot her long before she even arrived at the gate…"_ Neji's voice came over the radio in the native tongue.

This shocked Myuute so much that even her green feathers were paling.

 _"Anyway, I'd get over to the eastern gate if I were you…"_ Neji continued. _"The Bandits have brought in a couple of heavy hitters."_

"Make them eat lead!" Naruko said into the radio, then called for one of the LAV's to make ready to move out.

"What about her?" Shikamaru asked.

"Have Sakura watch over her." She answered as she quick-marched towards the LAV.

Shikamaru sighed, muttered his favorite word, then turned to the siren. "Let me warn you about the person I am bringing you to." He said. "Do NOT piss her off…she is very likely the most scary and violent person in our group when angry. She may be a medic, but when she is angry, all that is thrown away."

The siren was nodding so fast that Shikamaru thought her neck might snap…heck, he thought he heard something pop…

Southern gate A.T.M (aka At That/The Moment)

Team 2 was watching in confusion as their resident demi-goddess was suffering for some reason.

"Uhm…Leilei…what is happening to her?" Itami asked the light blue haired Sorceress standing next to her. She, along with Tuka, a high elf survivor, were brought back to Alnus alongside the refugees from Coda village, with Rory joining them

"She is feeling the souls of the dead rushing through her into the next world." Leilei said in her stoic voice. "To her, it has the same effect as…"

Rory suddenly cried out in ecstasy and a small puddle appeared beneath her.

"…a very powerful aphrodisiac." Leilei finished.

"Any way we can help her?" Issei and Itami asked.

"Don't get in her way." Was Leilei's simple answer.

"Huh?" the two men and some of the others nearby asked, only to barely dodge Rory as she sped past them.

"Quick, after her!" Itami called out. "Overwatch, this is Recon 3 Leader." He shouted into his mic.

 _"Recon 3 leader, this is Overwatch. Have you lost something?"_ Neji called in at the same time.

"Uh, yeah. Rory has just gone AWOL. If you see her, please don't shoot her." Itami said.

 _"Well, in that case, get your slacking ass over to the east gate."_ Naruko's voice came over the Radio. _"I am almost at the east gate to help…things are almost FUBAR there."_

"Hai, hai." Itami muttered.

 _"Don't 'Hai, Hai' me. Get your ass in gear or I will radio in to Alnus to put up webpage blocks on all of your favorite Doujin sites."_ Naruko threatened.

Well…the team that followed him had trouble keeping up with him…with the LAV…and he was running…

With Hinata and Neji

"Overwatch to Fox, do you want to see something funny?" Hinata radioed.

 _"Sure, patching in to your Rifle-cam."_ Naruko answered.

For a few moments there was silence…then…

 _"Ha…good one. When did you get the time to edit this?"_ Naruko asked.

"How can we edit live streams?" Neji asked.

 _"I don't know."_ Naruko answered.

"Oh, and I see Issei-san in the LAV behind Itami-san." Hinata added.

For a moment Naruko didn't respond. _"…Do me a favor and shoot that guy…please…"_

"And deny us the hilarious sight of you beating the shit out of him?" both Neji and Hinata asked with unseen grins.

 _"…good point…he makes for an excellent lab rat for new CQC moves I make now and then…"_ Naruko answered in a tone that sounded like she was thinking out loud.

In the LAV following Itami

Issei suddenly shivered and had a really bad feeling about something.

"Getting cold feet already?" Soichiro asked.

Meanwhile, at the north gate

"Shanaroo!" The shout preceded a loud 'crash'.

Why? Well, because a certain siren had made the mistake of calling a certain pink haired medic 'flat chest' while flaunting her own chest.

Myuute was now pissing her pants as she leaned against the wall that Sakura had sent her into via 'knuckle-express'.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING FLAT?" the medic growled, while advancing onto the scared shitless siren.

 _'Mother…Father…I had a very Crap life…Sorry…'_ Myuute thought, waiting for the killing blow to come.

Suddenly Sakura grabbed her by the shirt and started shaking her violently.

And while Sakura started out ranting about her not being 'flat', just 'underdeveloped', the rant soon turned into one where she all but demanded Myuute's secret for having bigger breasts than her.

With the spectators

"Should we intervene?" Ino asked.

"Baka…do you have a deathwish?" Kiba asked.

"Troublesome…" **(need I say who this is?)**

*munch* Chouji was eating chips…again…

"Well, it is questionable whether this is one of Sakura's methods of interrogation…" Shinobi asked. **(1)**

"Pretty effective if you ask me…" Ino commented, "…if you want to kill the prisoner during the interrogation that is…"

At the east gate

Pinya had left her place on the balcony to actively take part in the fighting down below and was doing more than holding her own…the militia and soldiers to her left and right however were being pushed back.

"Back! To the second barricade!" Pinya shouted, seeing her lines wavering.

Just then a behemoth of a person cast a shadow over her. Looking up, she saw a heavily armored man wielding a massive mace, ready to strike at her.

"OH SHIIIIT!" Pinya screamed as the man began swinging his mace at her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end. She heard a loud noise, and thought that her end had come so swiftly that she didn't feel anything.

Only when she heard a heavy object fall onto the ground did she dare to open her eyes slightly…and immediately opened them so wide the eye-balls nearly popped out.

There, on the floor before her, lay the man with a small wound in the chest-plate where his heart is located.

She stared at the wound, wondering how a wound that small could kill a man that large.

"You know…if you keep standing there like a scared little girl these fuckers will have at you…" a new voice spoke up.

The fighting had stopped at the sound of the unrecognizable loud noise moments earlier and now everyone's attention was focused on the newcomer. She had long red hair and wore the outfit of the 'green people', as the people at Alnus Hill were called throughout the Empire and beyond. In her hands was a weird device that had a metal stick pointing out from the front.

"Uhm…what?" Pinya asked, her brain still rebooting, though it seemed her processor was partially fried…it was working very slowly.

"Putting it bluntly, get your ass moving or those fuckers will try to increase the size of their miniature manhoods by having their way with you." Naruko said, bored expression on her face. She brought her weird device up. "Oh and…duck."

"What?" Pinya asked, bowing forward slightly as one does when one doesn't understand something someone said.

Needless to say, she still gave Naruko enough space to shoot the man attacking Pinya from behind.

And the bullet passed so close to Pinya's skull that she felt the air from the passing bullet, making her jump so violently that the straps holding her armor together snapped… The results being that men on both sides fell back unconscious and Pinya wondering why it felt slightly breezy.

"You know, if that didn't cause friendly fire, it would be quite the effective weapon for you…better maybe than your sword." Naruko commented.

"Huh?" Pinya asked, still wondering why it was so damn breezy.

"She can be glad that Sakura isn't here." Shino said.

"True that…she'd probably try to shake her to death due to jealousy." Tenten said.

Pinya by now had had enough of wondering why it was so god damn breezy and looked down.

At the north gate

"KYAAAAAAAA!" the scream echoed throughout Italica, catching Sakura's attention and making her release the dizzy Myuute, who breathed a sigh of relief when the torture stopped…

In the tower

"What the hell was that?" Neji asked.

"Try not to imagine Tenten in the Princesses situation, will you." Hinata said.

"Why?" Neji asked, turning his scope on the source of the scream…and fell back unconscious with a slight nose-bleed.

Back with Naruko

 _"Naruko, we have a Casualty up here on Overwatch."_ Hinata's voice come over the radio.

Naruko paused for a moment, then turned to Tenten and Shino.

"Have fun." Was all she told them before walking a short distance away, whilst the screams of pain and fear erupted amongst the Bandits as a semi sadistic CQC specialist and a equally semi sadistic weapons specialist had at them.

"Overwatch, what happened up there?" Naruko asked.

 _"Well, Neji may just be far too innocent for his own good."_ Hinata said.

"Why is that?" Naruko asked.

 _"He may have seen the princess and imagined Tenten in her position…"_ Hinata said with a small giggle.

"You are slowly turning into a prankster, aren't you?" Naruko asked, "Maybe I should Tell Kiba about your sizes…"

The rest went unheard by Hinata as she went atomic from embarrassment and fainted…Naruko swore she saw the glow from where she was standing.

Not that Naruko really needed the Overwatch team anymore…

She was about to switch to the frequency of the approaching helicopters when she heard a sadistic and…aroused…laugh. Turning she saw Rory land amongst a large group of bandits, halberd held at the side as though she wasn't expecting a fight.

A brute charged at her, swinging his massive chained mace, only to have Rory's Halberd smash into his head with such force it shattered his helmet, then sending him flying into a nearby building, making it collapse.

However, Rory was only one being, albeit an OP one, and could not stop the influx of Bandits into the courtyard. Soon, the group from Team 3 arrived, with Issei jumping into the melee thanks to his boiling blood itching for a good brawl…well he got one.

And although Naruko, Itami and Soichiro provided cover fire, the Bandits were slowly pushing the local defenders back. Soon they would break through the last barricade and swarm into the town.

 _"Maelstrom. This is Combat Team 4."_ The voice suddenly crackled into life in Naruko's ear.

"You guys are late." Naruko all but shouted into her mic. "But it is good to hear you. What is your ETA?"

 _"We are in sight of Italica. We are approaching from the east."_ Came the response.

"Well, most of the enemy forces are assembled thereon the outside." Naruko said. "Hold fire on any enemy inside the walls. Let the Valkyries fly…and happy hunting."

 _"Roger that. What is the status inside the walls?"_

"Three CQC specialists and one sadistic demigoddess are…" Naruko answered before being grabbed by the arm by a bandit who managed to get past the defenders. Moments later Naruko felt something wet and sticky sliding up the side of her neck.

 _"Repeat your last please."_

"Uhm…make that three CQC specialists, one demigoddess and one death brining Redhead engaged in a FUBAR Melee." Itami answered for Naruko.

 _"FUBAR Melee?"_

"A bandit managed to get his hands on Maelstrom and licked her." Itami answered.

 _"…"_ the silence spoke volumes.

With the approaching Helicopters

"SIR. ONE OF THE BANDITS JUST INITIATED CODE RED FOX!" the radio operator shouted over the sound of the helicopter.

"RED FOX! PILOT, PICK UP THE PACE. I STILL WANT TO GET SOME ACTION TODAY!" Commander Colonel Kengun shouted.

"WHAT IS CODE RED FOX?" one of the troops asked.

"IT MEANS THAT SOMEONE TRIED MOLESTING LIEUTENANT UZUMAKI. " Kengun explained. "SHE GOES BERSERK AND ATTACKS ANYONE HER SUBCONSCIOUS DOESN'T REGISTER AS AN ALLY."

"UZUMAKI…YOU MEAN UZUMAKI NARUKO? THE RED GHOST SNIPER?" the first asked. Kengun nodded. "WHOEVER TRIED MOLESTING HER WAS BOTH VERY LUCKY TO GET HIS HANDS ON HER TITS AND VERY STUPID FOR DOING SO."

"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" several people shouted.

Back with the slaughter…uhm…battle

Pinya and her Rose knights were as pale as paper at the utter brutality with which the red haired female leader bestowed upon the bandits.

Even from where they stood, they could hear bones breaking and could see as she dealt out powerful and fatal strikes.

After a while the onlookers became aware of a strange noise from the sky, but when they looked towards in the direction the noise came from, they were blinded by the sun.

"What is that noise?" Pinya asked.

As the noise became louder, the battle began to grind to a halt and soon the Bandits were asking the same thing.

Suddenly a flying metal monster flew over the wall with a deafening roar followed by numerous others. Over the loud noise one could hear the sound of very loud music the likes of which has never been heard of in the empire before.

"Iron…Pegasus?" Pinya gasped.

 _"Oscar 1 to Avenger and Maelstrom. We are beginning our assault on the next pass!"_ came from Itami's radio.

"Really? Charge of the Cavalry?" Naruko asked. "Wouldn't Ride of the Valkyries be better?"

 _"Uhm…now that you mention it…"_ the music stopped and another piece began playing.

 _"Sorry about that…we started the music a bit early and the music changed."_

"Next time put it on repeat." Naruko muttered.

 _"You hear that Sergeant?"_

 _"Uhm…this Music player doesn't have a repeat function…"_

"Are you serious?" Itami asked. "How old is that thing?"

 _"The one we usually use is fucked, so we had to use this one. Anyway, we are beginning our attack now."_

"Roger that, but again, keep the fire on the outside of the walls." Itami said.

Suddenly loud noises were added to the din of the helicopters and although they could not see what was going on, those inside the walls could hear the screams of the dead and dying.

Inside the walls Naruko returned to stand next to Itami and the two of them began taking out the bandits with frightful (at least for the locals and the knights) accuracy.

Suddenly a voice blared over a loudspeaker. _"Attention to all friendlies in the courtyard, this is Hunter 1. We are about to clear out all hostiles inside the walls. I repeat…"_ the speaker repeated the message. _"We will commence firing in 10."_

Itami, Naruko and Soichiro looked at each other in surprise before rushing into the courtyard to get their allies out of there.

Whilst Naruko grabbed Tenten and Shino, Itami grabbed Rory and Soichiro dragged Issei.

They barely made it out of the Kill Zone before the countdown ended and the Cobra began firing its M197 triple barreled Gatling gun. For several seconds the spray of bullets moved from side to side, kicking up a dust cloud and laying waste to anything the bullets hit.

Once the attack ended and the dust cloud settled, Pinya and the locals gasped in shock and horror at the devastation.

Pinya looked at the Helicopter in horror, thinking about what could happen if the green people attacked the imperial capital.

Soon some JSDF personal roped down from the transport helicopters and secured any prisoners they could.

Itami meanwhile was still holding Rory, who noticed where his hand was…and gave him a demigoddess empowered punch in the face.

Later that day

Itami (who was now sporting a black eye curtsey of Rory), Kengun, Naruko, Rory, Tuka and Leilei were in a meeting with the current leader of Italica, Pinya and Pinya's aide concerning the term of sharing their victory. To the complete shock of Pinya, the leader and the Aide, all that the 'green skins' wanted was tax free access to the merchants and several of the prisoners.

Later, outside the walls

Itami picked out numerous captives, most of whom were females, including the siren that surrendered moments before the final assault that would come with them to Alnus Base.

There wasn't enough space in the helicopters for all of them, therefore Teams 2 and 3 had to carry them back.

"Is it just me or is that guy picking out all of the women?" Shino asked.

"Well, it would make sense." Kakashi said.

"Many of the townsfolk would want to take their revenge on the captives, which would most likely end up with the females being raped repeatedly." Asuma added.

"So that Otaku can use his head once in a while." Shino commented, before suddenly turning and punching someone behind her.

Issei had been sneaking up to her and still had his arms stretched out, hands in a groping motion, when Shino's fist connected with his face.

Sometime later

The convoy of 9 vehicles drove down the road heading towards Alnus Hill.

Naruko was sitting in the lead vehicle, chatting with Several of her teammates…though mostly teasing Naji and Hinata about their innocence…on the Public team channel.

 _"LT-chan. Dust cloud at 1 o'clock."_ Kiba radioed.

"All vehicles stop." Naruko said, then climbed onto the roof with the telescope of her rifle in hand.

Looking at the approaching dust cloud, she noticed that Itami and his driver were looking at the cloud as well…their chatter could be heard over the radio.

 _"Naruko, let me handle this."_ Itami said, getting out and walking to the front.

Short time later

The cause of the dust cloud turned out to be the bulk of the Rose Knights, heading towards Italica.

They were mostly females…with a slight superiority complex.

Itami, realizing that they were about to become aggressive, shouted for the convoy to hold their fire and get out of here.

With the convoy

 _"Lieutenant…what do we do now?"_ Soichiro's voice came over the radio.

"Semper Fi." Naruko muttered.

 _"Huh?"_

"The only thing I learned from Itami is the deeper meaning of Semper Fi." Naruko said.

 _"No-one gets left behind!"_ Soichiro said.

"Correct." Naruko said before smirking. "Who is up for some mischief?"

 **(1): for those who have forgotten by now, Shinobi is Aburame Shino, originally dubbed Shino 'B' but soon became Shinobi due to the pronunciation. Shino A, or just plain Shino, is Kuribayashi Shino.**

 **Chapter 6**

Nighttime, Hill overlooking Italica

Shino sighed. "Why couldn't the hentai have been the one captured?"

"Because we'd still have to save his sorry ass." Naruko muttered.

"HEY!" Issei shouted.

"Anyway, you think Itami is dead?" Shino asked, ignoring the glare Issei was giving them.

"Nah. That Pinya chick would rather strip naked than risk starting a war with us." Naruko said.

"…I…can't believe you just said that…" Shino said.

"I agree with LT-chan…" Issei began, only to have a stone hit him in the crotch.

"Well, that Pinya is hot." Kiba said.

"Do you guys mind?" Tenten growled. Next to her the other members of Team 3 nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, Shikamaru. Got any ideas on how to get in there?" Naruko asked.

"I may have a few…let me watch the clouds a bit more." The lazy tactician said.

"…is this guy serious?" Kurata asked.

"Just wait until he starts explaining his plans." Ino told him.

After a while Shikamaru sat up and came up with a plan that everyone agreed to.

Meanwhile in the Majors Manor

"YOU IDIOT!" Pinya shouted at her two second in commands, who were kneeling before her. Pinya gave them an earful about the military prowess that the people in green possessed.

Shortly afterwards

The rescue teams silently ran past the sleeping forms of the gate guards.

"That Elf has some really useful magic…" Naruko muttered.

"Wait till you see Leilei in action…" Kurata told her.

 **(The rescue pretty much is as in the anime…just with more participants)**

The next morning

For the second time in two days the convoy of 9 vehicles left the trading town of Italica, though this time in addition to the POW's that weren't taken on the Helicopters the convoy carried two VIPs.

Pinya and Bozes decided to accompany them due to Bozes's unprovoked assault on Itami. They wanted to make sure that that action didn't start another war.

Meanwhile, Naruko and Shino were sitting in the leading vehicle, talking with their radio's switched off.

"Ruko-chan, I still can't believe that you called Pinya a chick!" Shino said.

"Well, to be honest, you are one as well." Naruko said absentmindedly.

Noticing the looks of shock and confusion, Naruko just asked, "What?"

"Do you have any idea what that means?" Kiba asked.

"Not really, I just heard that that is what many people call a nice female." Naruko said. **(1)**

The others blinked…several times before it dawned on them that it was a major misunderstanding on Naruko's side.

After a few minutes of silence, Kiba asked, "So, uhm, LT-chan…have you ever been in a relationship?"

"Nope." Naruko replied.

"Is there anyone you would consider dating?" Kiba asked.

"Not really, though technically I still owe Yashi-chan a Sparring Date." Naruko admitted.

"Sparring Date?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, I challenged her to a CQC spar." Shino answered.

"That isn't a date you know…" Kiba muttered.

"Isn't a date something where both parties go and do something they enjoy?" Naruko asked.

Kiba opened his mouth, then shut it, realizing that she had a point.

"OK…let me rephrase the question…is there anybody that you love?" he finally asked.

"Well, yes. There is Old Man, Minister Tano, who is like a father to me and then there is my best friend Yashi-chan. Also, Rika-chan is like a sister to me." Naruko said.

…That was not the answer Kiba, or anyone listening in, was hoping for.

"So, what about you, Kiba?" Naruko asked. Kiba instantly became motionless and pale, whilst next to him Hinata blushed somewhat. "Is there anyone you are interested in?"

Even Kiba's canine, Akamaru, looked up at Kiba as if expecting an answer.

"Not you too, Akamaru…" Kiba groaned out in exasperation.

Luckily he was saved by Naruko's radio coming to life…

 _"Naruko, we are nearing Alnus. We are stopping at the brig first before heading over to command."_ Itami's voice came from the loudspeaker.

"Roger that." Naruko said.

 _"You are being very quiet…is something happening?"_ Itami asked.

"Nah. We are just having a round of 'who likes who' here." Naruko answered. "It is currently Kiba's turn."

…Kiba's day couldn't have gotten worse…

 _"By the way, is that Hinata lady of yours blushing again? I can see the glow from back here!"_ Itami told her.

At that everyone looked at the bluenette…who was atomic.

"Indeed it is…" Naruko said, before turning to Shino. "Yashi-chan…do you think that these two would make a good match?" she asked, indicating Kiba and Hinata.

"Hmm…now that I think about it, they spend most of their free time together…" Shino said.

"Well, if they decide to enter a relationship, I am not going to stop them." Naruko said. Instantly Kiba sat up straight with a normal face, something mirrored by Hinata. "Though I wonder what Neji would think about it…"

And the world came crashing down on Kiba once again.

Neji may not seem like it, but he was highly protective of his younger cousin…To the point where he chased away any boy that tried dating Hinata during their school carriers…

"Don't worry, Kiba-kun. I am sure that Neji-niisan will make an exception for you." Hinata tried brightening his day. "And if not, I will…" and with that Hinata suddenly went atomic and fainted.

 _"Oi, Naruko…did someone just burst a lightbulb over there?"_ Itami asked over the radio.

Two days later

Naruko sighed. It has been 2 days since they returned from Italica and one day since Itami, and several others left for earth to attend the summons. It has also been a day now since Naruko and Shino had their sparring date…from which both ended up covered in bruises and broken noses, but luckily no other broken bones. They didn't mind because they enjoyed letting loose against a strong opponent.

Maybe Naruko had enjoyed it a bit too much…

Because ever since that spar she had been feeling strange whenever she was around Shino.

Now it was reaching a point that she couldn't ignore any longer. She decided to visit the Psychologist.

Fortunately for the the Psychologist was someone that Naruko knew for a while now…more like she was her personal psychologist.

"Ah, Naruko. To what do I owe this pleasure?" she said with a smile.

"I have been having these strange feeling lately and I don't know what they are, Granny." Naruko told her.

'Granny' Tsunade **(2)** was the only one other than the Old man and Shino that Naruko trusted when it came to her emotions.

"Really now?" Tsunade said, interested in what Naruko was about to say.

Naruko tried explaining the feelings as best as she could, and with every word she said, Tsunade seemed to smile wider and wider.

"You look like you know what is happening to me." Naruko told her.

"Indeed I do, though I just want to confirm something first." Tsunade told her.

"What does that mean?" Naruko asked.

"Is there anything else that you feel?" she asked.

"Yes. My heart feels like it is going to shatter my ribcage." Naruko answered almost immediately.

"Ah, Naruko. You are in love." Tsunade said. Naruko looked at her in surprise.

"How to I cope with this?" Naruko asked. "It is very distracting."

"I can only imagine that it is." Tsunade smirked. "For someone who used to seal away her emotions like you, feeling feelings like love can be pretty overwhelming." Tsunade took on a serious expression. "I will have to speak to the commander about this though. As you are now, your emotions could jeopardize your missions."

"What about Yashi-chan?" Naruko asked. "I cannot just go up to her and confess. She'd think I am drunk or have gone crazy." Tsunade saw her trying to hold back her tears. "She is the closest friend I have."

"I will speak with her later, after I brought this to the commander's attention." Tsunade said. "Listen Naruko, whatever you do, do not try to rebury those feelings you have." She put her hand on Naruko's shoulder. "It will only hurt you more in the future."

Naruko nodded, then left to ponder on Tsunade's words.

Tsunade meanwhile called the Commander and told him about Naruko.

Afterwards she took out a photo from her desk.

 _'Whatever happens, I will stay true to my promise to the two of you.'_ Tsunade thought.

She then called for Kuribayashi.

Half an hour later

"You wanted to speak to me, Tsunade-san?" Shino said, saluting.

"Just because I am hired by the Military doesn't mean you need to treat me like a member." Tsunade told her. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about something regarding Naruko."

Shino's eyes widened and her breath became irregular for a moment.

"Unfortunately I cannot go indepth about what is going on with her, but I would just like to ask you something first. And please be honest with me." Tsunade put on a serious face. "What do you think of Naruko?"

Shino was taken aback by the sudden question.

"Well, to be honest, I have been feeling attracted to her for a while now. At first it was as though I just wanted to remain close friends with her, but about a month after becoming her room-mate, I noticed my feelings becoming more of a physical attraction towards her." Shino said.

"So…what is stopping you from confessing to her?" Tsunade asked.

"She is my best friend. What will she think if I just go up to her and say 'I love you' to her?" Shino asked. "She'll think that I am playing a prank on her. Heck, I don't think she even knows her sexual orientation yet."

Tsunade hid her smirk behind a clip-board.

"Question. Have you noticed anything different about Naruko recently?" she asked.

"You mean other than subtly avoiding me ever since the spar yesterday?" Shino asked. "I just think that is because I dislocated her left thumb."

"I think it is something else…" Tsunade muttered to herself, but Shino still heard her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Naruko is struggling against her emotions, emotions that she had long ago sealed away inside her heart." Tsunade said.

"Huh?" Shino asked, not fully understanding.

"Think of it this way…she sealed her emotions like a dam wall 'seals' away the water…" Tsunade said.

Shino's eyes widened in understanding. "…and the dam inside of her is currently breaking."

"Correct." Tsunade said. "More than that I cannot say. Doctor-patient confidentiality. I hope you understand."

"I do, doc." Shino said, getting up to leave.

"Oh and one last thing…" Tunade called out to her.

Shino stopped at the doorway and looked back.

"Please be there when Naruko needs a friend. I have a feeling that it will happen very soon." Tsunade said.

"I'll do my best to do so." Shino said.

After Shino left, Tsunade waited a few minutes, then decided to make another call.

A few minutes later

Shino was walking through the base searching for Naruko. Her talk with Tsunade made her very aware of her own feelings, yet instead of embarrassment, she felt relieved that she could open up with someone about her feelings…even if it was against a 50 year old stingy hag who refused to reveal why she still looked like she was in her late 20's. (Hence her being a 'hag')

Now however, she was looking for Naruko in order to confirm the suspicions she got during her talk with Tsunade.

She just didn't how she would go about confirming said suspicions…or what she'd say to Naruko once she found her.

Eventually she came to the Barracks where she and Naruko had their quarters.

"Hey, Kakashi-san. Have you seen Naruko anywhere?" she asked the silver haired man in the lobby, reading Smut like he always does in his free time…

"Hmm? Yes. I saw her heading towards the Village." He said. She was gone before he could blink. "What's up with her?" he wondered, then shrugged and returned to his reading.

15 Minutes later

Shino walked down the main boulevard of the small (and rapidly growing) village, looking for the distinctive red hair that she could recognize anywhere and at any time. A loud scream caught her attention and she saw a drunk dwarf landing heavily on the ground a few meters away.

Looking towards the origin of the dwarf's flight, Shino barely caught a glimpse of something red disappearing around a corner. And it was the red that she was looking for.

Quickly she ran after it and saw that it was indeed Naruko…but it seemed like something was wrong with her.

But Naruko soon turned another corner and was gone.

"OK. What the fuck happened here?" Shino asked, returning to the point where the commotion began.

With Naruko

Naruko ran without thought or destination. She just wanted to get away from there.

 _'May your heart be broken by the ones you love, you whorish bitch!'_

The dwarf's words struck far deeper than it should have done. The only solace she felt was that she used him as a training pole for her CQC moves…damn dwarf deserved it.

She ran until she left the town…and kept on running.

She ran until she reached the forest…and still kept running.

She ran until she reached a clearing in the forest…where she finally collapsed and began crying her heart out, cursing her heart for feeling as though it was torn to pieces, cursing herself for being in love with someone who most likely won't share her feelings, cursing herself for having sealed her emotions away in the first place, cursing herself…

For several minutes she cried and cursed herself, wishing for the pain to go away.

Meanwhile with Shino

Shino wasn't sure that she was running in the correct direction. She just knew that her heart was telling her that it was the correct way. She had just entered the forest and was running through it.

She had heard what had happened in the town…and left at a run after beating the shit out of the dwarf.

Whilst running, she heard Tsunade's words echoing in her head.

 _'Please be there when Naruko needs a friend. I have a feeling it will happen very soon.'_

After a while, she heard crying and some colorful swearing ahead of her.

Following the voice, she arrived at a clearing where she found the object of her search crying her heart out.

Making a quick decision, Shino began approaching.

Naruko was so absorbed in her crying and self-loathing that she didn't notice Shino approaching.

She didn't notice when the brunette stood less than three feet in front of her.

She didn't notice when Shino kneeled down.

She DID notice that someone embraced her.

She wanted to break away, but found herself unable to muster the strength to do so.

She just wanted to be alone at the moment.

"Why?" she croaked. "Why are you here?"

"Ruko-chan, you need a shoulder to cry on right now…" Shino said.

"No, you don't understand." Naruko said. "Why are YOU here?"

"Because you are my friend…" Shino began.

"NO." Naruko shouted. "Why are you, the one I love, the one I won't ever be with, here?"

Shino was taken aback by her words. "What do you…"

"I am a monster, an orphan, an outcast." Naruko said. "The things I have done, the things people did to me, if people knew…" she stopped talking when Shino put her finger on her lips.

"Do you really think my feelings for you would change because of these things?" Shino asked.

Now it was Naruko's turn to be taken aback.

"Ruko-chan…you said you loved me." Shino said, removing her finger. "Let me tell you this, I also love you."

And before Naruko could come up with a complaint, Shino leaned forward and kissed her.

For Shino, it felt like a large weight had been lifted of her back.

For Naruko, it felt as though all of her troubles were solved at that moment.

A few seconds later Naruko began returning the kiss.

when they ended the kiss, it was due to them both being out of air, and they both looked each other in the eyes.

After a while they both began laughing.

Meanwhile back in the refugee town

The medic looked over the completely beat up dwarf that was carried in through her door and sighed.

"What did he do this time?" she asked.

 **(1): It is true, isn't it?**

 **(2): You really didn't think I would have let her out, do you?**

 **AND DONE!**


End file.
